OBJECTIVE: The visual efficiency scale currently adopted to determine the legal grade of visual disability associated with visual field loss in Japan is not appropriate for the evaluation of disability regarding daily living activities. We investigated whether Esterman disability score (EDS) is suitable for the assessment of mobility difficulty in patients with visual field loss. METHODS: The correlation between the EDS calculated from Goldmann's kinetic visual field and the degree of subjective mobility difficulty determined by a questionnaire was investigated in 164 patients with visual field loss. The correlation between the EDS determined using a program built into the Humphrey field analyzer and that calculated from Goldmann's kinetic visual field was also investigated. RESULTS: The EDS based on the kinetic visual field was correlated well with the degree of subjective mobility difficulty, and the EDS measured using the Humphrey field analyzer could be estimated from the kinetic visual field-based EDS. CONCLUSION: Instead of the currently adopted visual efficiency scale, EDS should be employed for the assessment of mobility difficulty in patients with visual field loss, also to establish new judgment criteria concerning the visual field.
OBJECTIVE: The visual efficiency scale currently adopted to determine the legal grade of visual disability associated with visual field loss in Japan is not appropriate for the evaluation of disability regarding daily living activities. We investigated whether Esterman disability score (EDS) is suitable for the assessment of mobility difficulty in patients with visual field loss. METHODS: The correlation between the EDS calculated from Goldmann's kinetic visual field and the degree of subjective mobility difficulty determined by a questionnaire was investigated in 164 patients with visual field loss. The correlation between the EDS determined using a program built into the Humphrey field analyzer and that calculated from Goldmann's kinetic visual field was also investigated. RESULTS: The EDS based on the kinetic visual field was correlated well with the degree of subjective mobility difficulty, and the EDS measured using the Humphrey field analyzer could be estimated from the kinetic visual field-based EDS. CONCLUSION: Instead of the currently adopted visual efficiency scale, EDS should be employed for the assessment of mobility difficulty in patients with visual field loss, also to establish new judgment criteria concerning the visual field.