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Safety of patients who drive with bioptic devices improves with experience
These study results may help clinicians manage patients with low vision who wish to drive.
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Drivers with increasing experience using bioptic telescopic spectacles were found to have less frequent motor vehicle collisions, according to a study discussed at the American Academy of Optometry.
Bradley Dougherty, OD, PhD, an assistant professor at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, discussed the research that he presented with Primary Care Optometry News.
“Though most U.S. states allow bioptic driving in some form, we still do not know a lot about the road safety of bioptic drivers and what patient factors, visual or otherwise, might predict motor vehicle collisions,” he said. “We have found so far that one of the most important predictors of collisions is previous non-bioptic driving experience. That is, bioptic drivers who used to have a regular license to drive have lower crash rates on average than those who learned to drive for the first time with a bioptic device.”
He continued: “However, those novice bioptic drivers’ crash rates decrease significantly as they gain experience, in much the same way as new normally sighted drivers’ crash rates.”
Dougherty and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of 237 drivers to assess the motor vehicle collision rates in patients who were both inexperienced and experienced at driving with bioptic devices.
“We are studying patient factors that might predict road safety in patients who have low vision and use bioptic telescopic spectacles for driving,” Dougherty explained. “Bioptic telescopic spectacles consist of a small telescope implanted in the lens of a pair of spectacles. Drivers who cannot meet vision standards with conventional optical correction are permitted to use bioptic telescopic spectacles to obtain licensure. When the driver wants to read a distant sign or inspect some distant object, he or she can tilt his or her head down slightly and view it through the telescope. This should allow the bioptic driver to recognize these distant objects sooner and drive more safely.”
As detailed in the study abstract, the researchers recorded demographics, visual characteristics, licensure history and ocular diagnoses and used driving records from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The study included participants 16 to 81 years old, 99 of whom had no previous experience driving without bioptic devices.
Bradley Dougherty
Results showed that, for inexperienced drivers, the mean number of motor vehicle collisions decreased as years of licensure increased. The researchers reported there was no similar relationship for previously experienced drivers.
“The frequency of motor vehicle collisions decreases with increasing bioptic driving experience in drivers without driving experience prior to bioptic licensure,” the authors concluded. “This trend toward improved safety suggests that bioptic drivers who are new to driving develop behaviors that mitigate risk.”
Dougherty noted that the few studies that have used state crash rec=ords to evaluate bioptic driver collision rates compared with normally sighted driver collision rates have found increased collision rates among drivers using bioptic devices.
“Our preliminary findings using age-, gender- and population density-matched normally sighted controls are consistent with those studies,” he said. “These increased rates are similar to those found for some other medical conditions or for new normally sighted drivers.”
Dougherty explained that his study can be directly applied to clinical practice.
“It will help both clinicians and patients understand how the particular characteristics of a patient interested in bioptic driving might influence future road safety,” Dougherty told PCON.
“When a patient with low vision comes to a clinician interested in learning about biopic driving or being fitted with a device, ideally that clinician will have an evidence base to refer to in counseling the patient on chances for success or aspects of concern. Though there is still a lot that is unknown, we think we are making progress on contributing to that evidence base.” – by Chelsea Frajerman