Frontloading SITA-Faster Can Increase Frequency and Reliability of Visual Field Testing at Minimal Time Cost.

PURPOSE

To report the outcomes of frontloaded visual field (VF) testing (2 tests per eye on the same visit) over 2 longitudinal, consecutive visits using SITA-Faster (SFR) in terms of global indices, reliability metrics, and test duration.

DESIGN

Prospective longitudinal study.

SUBJECTS

A total of 902 eyes of 463 subjects with normal, suspect, or manifest glaucoma.

METHODS

Two intravisit SFR VF tests (T1 and T2) per eye at an initial (T) and follow-up (T) visit.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Intra- and intervisit global indices, reliability metrics, and test durations.

RESULTS

The mean age of the subjects was 63.6 years, and 58.3% were male. Seven hundred ninety eyes (87.4%) had a diagnosis of glaucoma or glaucoma suspicion. The mean duration between visits was 265.0 (standard deviation 98.8) days. In total, 3608 VF tests were analyzed, with the correlation of mean deviation (MD) values of the frontloaded tests at each visit high (T1/T2 MD correlation at initial visit r = 0.83, root mean squared error [RMSE] = 1.26, follow-up visit r = 0.83, RMSE = 1.25, P < 0.0001) and greater than the correlation of MD between visits (T1/T1 MD correlation r = 0.72, RMSE = 1.31). There was a significant intra-visit decrease in rates of abnormally high sensitivity in the glaucoma hemifield test (3.2% vs. 1.6%, P = 0.0023) and rates of unreliable test results (15.4% vs. 9.2%, P = 0.002) from T1 to T2 in both visits, with a corresponding significant decrease in MD (-1.28 dB vs. -1.68 dB, P < 0.0001) and VF index (P = 0.03). The mean duration of each SFR test was 132.6 (SD 27.2) seconds.

CONCLUSIONS

Frontloading VFs using SFR produced sets of repeatable perimetric data with significant improvement of reliability indices from the first to second test. This may help increase testing frequency at minimal time cost to meet recommended guidelines and for evaluating patients prone to high variability. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.