Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how mild-to-moderate myopia and aging affect visual field sensitivity (VF-S) in normal eyes, correcting for effects of each.
Design: Combined cross-sectional and cohort study.
Methods: Two normal groups, a cross-sectional group (n = 703; 1,051 eyes; mean age, 52.6 years) and a longitudinal group (n = 44; 83 eyes; mean age, 52.3 years; follow-up, 4.2 years; VF tests, 12) were included. In the cross-sectional group, the mean VF-S of the entire field and 3 disc portion-oriented subfields of the Humphrey Field Analyzer 24-2 program were correlated with subjects' age, axial length (AL), disc, rim and β-peripapillary area, and disc ovality and torsion, using linear mixed-regression models. Their time changes in the longitudinal group were correlated with time, subjects' ages, and AL using linear mixed-regression models.
Results: In the cross-sectional group, the VF-S correlated negatively with age (-0.081 decibel [dB]/year; P < .001), which was more negative (P = .020) in the midperipheral than the central subfield, and with AL (P = .049) without intersubfield differences. In the longitudinal group, no changes in the ocular media were significant, and the VF-S declined by 0.074 dB/year (P = .007), which accelerated with higher age (P < .002) and baseline VF-S (P < .001) without intersubfield differences. The AL showed little effects on the VF-S longitudinal changes.
Conclusions: In normal eyes with mild-to-moderate myopia, the VF-S was lower subfield-independently with longer AL, whereas the AL had little effect on the aging-associated VF-S reduction. The VF-S decreased with aging with intersubfield differences. The aging-associated VF-S reduction accelerated with higher age, to which the ocular media changes were unrelated.
Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.