print this page | email this page
Study Finds Glaucoma Patients More Likely to Fall
March 5, 2007 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada — A new study funded by the Glaucoma Research Foundation has found that people with glaucoma are six times more likely to be involved in car accidents and three times more likely to fall than those without the disease.
“The key is not to say that glaucoma patients shouldn’t be driving. We’re not saying that at all,” said Balwantray Chauhan who, along with colleague Sharon Haymes, has been comparing the incidence of falls and vehicle accidents of 48 patients who are at least 50 years old to a similarly aged group without the eye disease. “These are patients who are legally fit to drive. We just want to be able to devise strategies to help them cope better.”
Falls and motor vehicle collisions are leading causes of injury in people with glaucoma. This study may result in the development of prevention programs, patient education, and the enhancement of quality of life for people with glaucoma.
“Based on these results, the research group has started a larger prospective study to better understand why patients with glaucoma may be more likely to have falls and motor vehicle accidents. We need to find ways to help them minimize their risk,” Dr. Haymes said in a press release from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
“There isn’t a cure for glaucoma,” Chauhan said. “You can’t get back what vision you’ve lost, but you can certainly stop or slow down the rate of progression.” Most patients are treated with eye drops to reduce pressure in the eye. Laser treatments and surgery may also be used to lower eye pressure.
The researchers’ initial findings are featured in the March issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, a publication of the Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology.
“The main thing that happens in glaucoma is you lose your side vision … and that is thought to be the most important in tasks of mobility, when you’re walking around, trying to detect obstacles, looking for trip hazards and, certainly, when we drive, there’s a great need to be able to pick up other vehicles and pedestrians that pop up in the periphery of your vision,” Haymes said.
“This study is taking the real-world tasks the patients have to do, everyday tasks likes mobility and like driving, and measuring the impact of the disease in a very scientific way,” Chauhan said.
According to Haymes, few studies have looked at glaucoma patients and vehicle accidents, while no single study has looked at both falls and car accidents in glaucoma patients.