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Older
drivers with cataracts, even only in one eye, are at increased
risk of having a car accident, according to researchers.
Dr. Cynthia
Owsley of the University of Alabama at Birmingham attributed
the increased car crash risk to decreased ability of drivers
with cataracts to distinguish between light and dark, called
contrast sensitivity.
In the
study, the researchers evaluated the driving records of 274
older drivers with cataracts and 104 older drivers free of
cataracts.
"Crash-involved
drivers were 6 times more likely to have severe contrast sensitivity
impairment in both eyes than crash-free drivers," Owsley
reported in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology.
But the
researchers also found that "a severe contrast sensitivity
deficit in only one eye was still significantly associated
with crash involvement.
"Drivers
with a history of crash involvement were 8 times more likely
to have a serious contrast sensitivity deficit in the worse
eye than those who were crash-free," Owsley reported.
"Severe
contrast sensitivity impairment due to cataract elevates at-fault
crash risk among older drivers, even when present in only
one eye," the researchers concluded.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of August 19, 2001
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