Interpreting Esterman VF test

[Toscaninni]

Hi

I am not required by the DVLA to have the Esterman VF test until Oct 24 but for my own peace of mind I asked my local optician to do this test this morning.

The test showed poor peripheral vision due to glaucoma, with an Esterman Efficiency Score of 56, unfortunately the optician really had no idea whether such a test result would, or would not, satisfy the DVLA. So I am none the wiser.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

[PeterRabbit62]

October the 24 has gone we are now in November

[Toscaninni in reply to PeterRabbit62]

October 23 was indeed last month, and yes we are now in November. November 24 will be in 11 months time.

[KieranGlaucomaUK Administrator]

Hello.

You are expected to notice 120 lights. They do allow for a small number of misses, but this depends on where the misses are.

At your appointment, you are allowed to take the test up to 3 times. Ensure that you tell the optometrist or their assistant if you find it difficult or if you are distracted.

If you do not meet the requirements, you will be able to appeal against your results. Appeals are quite often successful.

We have a booklet on our website which has some very useful information glaucoma.uk/wp-content/uplo...

There is also some information on the Gov.UK website.

I hope this helps.

[Toscaninni in reply to KieranGlaucomaUK]

Dear Kieran,

Your reply is very helpful, if discouraging. I did the test yesterday privately with opticians who said they could advise if I was safe to drive, but in practice they were not able to provide any useful advice.

The printout from the test showed many misses with my peripheral vision, though central vision ok. Numerical scores: "Seen 68/120, Not Seen 52/100, Esteman Efficiency Score 56."

Given what you said, it would now seem very clear that I would not pass the DVLA test, that I should advise the DVLA and for my own safety and that of others I should stop driving immediately. Although the test yesterday was administered by someone quite inexperienced, and the optician was clueless, I think with such low scores, it is pointless arranging any further private tests. Am I talking sense?

[KieranGlaucomaUK Administrator in reply to Toscaninni]

Hi there.

Are you certain that the test was on an Esterman, and not a standard visual field test? Were both eyes tested at the same time?

We cannot speak on whether you would be safe to drive in the meantime, this will depend on if you feel safe to do so in the meantime before your next test.

As I mentioned above, you can have up to 3 tests and you are entitled to appeal your results.

I'd highly recommend looking at the booklet that I provided the link to on our website.

[Toscaninni in reply to KieranGlaucomaUK]

Dear Kieran, Thank you again for your prompt replies. I've read the booklet very carefully, thank you.

The printout from the test bears the label Esterman Binocular so I'm pretty sure it was and Esterman test, which is what I asked for, and the test was binocular.

Given that I only saw 68 flashes out of the 120, even if the test was not conducted perfectly, I'm finding it hard not to conclude that I would fail the Esteman test as required by the DVLA and therefore I have to stop driving.

Thank you.

[Toscaninni in reply to KieranGlaucomaUK]

Dear Kieran

Sorry to trouble you again... I've been doing a bit more digging around and I came across the following academic paper (you will have to cut and paste the link below) which details several Esterman VFTs. One of these, case 3, was deemed to be a pass despite missing 35 out of 120. This is rather different from what you suggested "You are expected to notice 120 lights. They do allow for a small number of misses."

I'm confused. Perhaps there is hope for me after all.

Kind regards, Arthur

Here's the link: researchgate.net/profile/Ni...

[KieranGlaucomaUK Administrator in reply to Toscaninni]

Hi Arthur,

It will be for the DVLA to interpret the results. It will depend where the misses are on the visual field. They may also take into account if they are in a cluster. There could be many factors that they will take into account.

The 120 is a standard expectation. We cannot say for sure whether or not you will pass or not.

[Jazzers]

Hi Sorry for not seeing this sooner, I've just joined the forum but I have looked into this quite a bit in recent years and would make some comments. I've been on a 12 monthly recall for DVLA test, my "Esterman score" is typically 66 - 68. The critical issue is where the missed dots lie. As far as I can gather, DVLA look at 2 things with regard to the Esterman test. One is central vision and I believe there should be no "significant field defect either within or encroaching onto the 20 degrees of fixation". There is information on this on the DVLA website and I have found other documents that describe what the significant defect would be.

The other thing is the peripheral vision performance and you need to have "binocular field of vision of at least 120 degrees, with at least 50 degrees each side of centre". I think the key issue is whether there are dots missed that cut through the central horizontal line.

I found a very informative document here

scribd.com/document/2561955...

If link doesn't work, then search for visual requirements for driving by Catharine Chisolm.

I hope this is useful

[Toscaninni in reply to Jazzers]

Thank you. This looks like being very helpful.