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Learning effect in visual field testing documented
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JERUSALEM — Patients experience a learning curve when undergoing sequential tests with frequency doubling visual field testing, according to a study here. The study authors suggest that baseline visual field measurements should rely on a second testing session, because sensitivity and mean deviation scores are poorer when subjects with no previous perimetry experience are tested.
Amjad Horani, BMSc, and colleagues performed six serial visual field tests on 21 healthy adults with no previous visual field testing experience. Tests were spaced at least 2 days apart.
The mean deviation was significantly poorer at the first exam than at any other testing session (P < .003). Mean sensitivity was also significantly lower at the first testing session than at any other session (P < .004).The proportion of improvement from the first to the second session was 63% in mean sensitivity and 65% in mean deviation.
The study authors suggest that when following patients over time, physicians use a second testing session as the baseline for comparison. The study is published in the Journal of Glaucoma.