Impact of Glaucoma and Visual Field Loss on Life Space

Glaucoma, Visual Field Loss, and Their Association With Life Space in Older Adults

Mobility refers to a person's purposeful movement through the environment from one place to another and can be conceptualized as a continuum from bed bound (immobility) on one extreme to making excursions to distant locations on the other extreme. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a chronic, progressive optic neuropathy that can lead to gradual loss of vision in the peripheral field and central vision. Older adults with POAG have an increased risk for motor vehicle collisions and falls. Moreover, existing studies suggest that patients with POAG exhibit more postural sway while standing as measured by a balance platform and also tend to walk more slowly than those who are normally sighted and free of ocular disease. While these disturbances likely influence mobility, there has been little research directly assessing the impact of POAG on mobility. This study will assess the impact of POAG on life space (one aspect of mobility) and will determine whether difficulties with life space are associated with difficulties experienced under conditions of dim lighting.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Primary Open-angle Glaucoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Questionnaires

Detailed Description

Aim 1: To examine the extent of life space in older adults with POAG using the Life Space Questionnaire and to examine whether life space in persons with POAG is associated with the magnitude of visual field impairment.

Aim 2: To examine difficulties seeing under dim illumination and at night in older adults with POAG using the Low Luminance Questionnaire and to examine whether greater difficulty in seeing under dim illumination and at night is related to the magnitude of visual field loss.

Aim 3: To examine the relationship in older adults with POAG between visual problems seeing under dim illumination and at night (Low Luminance Questionnaire) and their life space (Life Space Questionnaire).

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 88

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294
      • University of Alabama at Birmingham

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants that are enrolled in the Early Detection of Glaucoma Progression using a Novel Individualized Approach (IRB-300000301) or in the African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation (ADAGES) IV: Alterations of the Lamina Cribrosa in Progression (IRB-161115004).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma
• Best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better
• Spherical refraction within ± 5 Diopters
• Cylinder refraction within ± 3 Diopters

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of intra-ocular surgery other than uncomplicated cataract or glaucoma surgery
• Significant cognitive impairment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma; Two following two questionnaires will be administered: Life Space Questionnaire: This 9-item questionnaire is interested in finding out how much a person gets out and about and the spatial extent of the person's typical life space, i.e., what is the usual range of places in which the person engages in activities within the designated time frame.; Low Luminance Questionnaire: This 32-item questionnaire is interested in finding out problems that involve vision under different lighting conditions or feelings that people have about your vision under different lighting conditions.

Other: Questionnaires; Two questionnaires will be administered, one focusing on life space and the other focusing on low luminance.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assessment of life space measured with the Life Space Questionnaire	The Life Space Questionnaire is a 9-item questionnaire that assesses how much a person gets out and about and the spatial extent of the person's typical life space, i.e., what is the usual range of places in which the person engages in activities within the designated time frame. Patients are asked to respond either Yes or No.	Day one

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Relationship between the Life Space Questionnaire and vision loss	The results obtained on the Life Space Questionnaire will be correlated with the results of the visual field tests	Day one
Assessment of vision under dim illumination and at night using the Low Luminance Questionnaire	The Low Luminance Questionnaire is a 32-item questionnaire that assesses problems that involve vision under different lighting conditions or feelings about vision under different lighting conditions. The range of responses is different for different questions, with the overall pattern being that "1" means "No difficulty at all" and that increasingly higher numbers mean increasingly more difficulty.	Day one
Relationship between Low Luminance Questionnaire and vision loss	The results obtained on the Low Luminance Questionnaire will be correlated with the results of the visual field tests.	Day one
Relationship between the Low Luminance Questionnaire and the Life Space Questionnaire	The results of the Low Luminance Questionnaire will be correlated with the results of the Life Space Questionnaire	Day one

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lyne Racette, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 9, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 30, 2019
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 11, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 13, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): September 17, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 11, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 4, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Eye Diseases; Ocular Hypertension; Glaucoma; Glaucoma, Open-Angle; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Investigative Techniques; Epidemiologic Methods; Data Collection; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Public Health; Environment and Public Health; Surveys and Questionnaires
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-300001552; 5P30AG022838-14 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: We plan to share our redacted individual participant data with other researchers at the time of sharing results.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No