Strategies for improving the diagnostic specificity of the frequency doubling perimeter.

PURPOSE: To evaluate various strategies designed to improve the specificity of the interpretation of results obtained with the frequency doubling technology perimeter (FDT) used in the full-threshold mode.
METHODS: Three different strategies were compared using data from 452 glaucoma patients and 237 healthy subjects: combining several FDT parameters from a single test, combining the FDT test with a GDx test, and confirming an abnormal FDT test result with a repeat test.
RESULTS: Confirming an abnormal FDT test result with a repeat test yielded a specificity increase of 0.10, from 0.80 to 0.90, at the expense of some loss of sensitivity for early but not for moderate or severe glaucoma. Combining several FDT parameters from a single test and combining FDT with GDx did not yield any noticeable increase in diagnostic performance.
CONCLUSIONS: A modest increase in FDT diagnostic performance can be obtained by the confirmation of an abnormal test result with a repeat test.