1. Driving Habits of Visually Impaired Drivers Who Use Bioptic Telescopes
Alex Bowers,
Doris Apfelbaum and Eli Peli

2. Bioptic Telescopes For people with reduced visual acuity
Spectacle mounted
Distance spotting
Most of time look through carrier lens

3. Driving with Bioptic

4. Background Questionnaire survey
Little data on driving habits of bioptic drivers
Self-restriction of driving habits with onset of visual impairment is well documented
(Ball et al, 1998; Owsley et al, 1999; Lyman et al; 2001; Keeffe et al, 2002; West et al, 2003; DeCarlo et al, 2003)
Questionnaire survey
Establish habits of bioptic drivers
Impact of bioptic use on driving habits and quality of life

5. Methods Driving Habits Questionnaire (DHQ)1
Telephone interview
58 bioptic drivers from 12 states
Median
Range
Age (yrs) 47
Bioptic driving (yrs) 8
Duration of impairment (yrs) 34
2 - 81
Visual acuity without bioptic
20/100
20/50 – 20/240
1. Owsley et al (1999) J. Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci; 54:M

6. General driving habits
Confident about driving:
Drive same speed as the general flow 84%
Rate quality of driving to be above average 72%
Moderately or very confident driving with bioptic 88%
But 60% used visual assistance (passenger)
Reading traffic signs
Identifying color of traffic light signals
Warning of hazards ahead
Help with directions or navigation

7. (US Dept Transportation, 2003)
Distances driven
Miles per week
Furthest distance:
60% out of state
33% out of region
Median: 200 miles per week
Normally-sighted:
203 miles per week
(US Dept Transportation, 2003)

8. Driving difficulty in 9 situations

9. Driving difficulty in 9 situations

10. Perceived driving difficulty and other self-restricting behaviors:
Spearman’s r
Low days driving per week
-0.44**
Limited furthest distance
-0.33**
Low weekly mileages
-0.29*
Slow speed relative to traffic flow
-0.27*
* p = 0.05; ** p =0.01

11. Impact of bioptic use on quality of life
For subjects aged ≤ 65 years:
90% were employed & 85% drove to work

12. Is driving less restricted when a bioptic is used?
Compared our results to previous studies that used Driving Habits Questionnaire for visually impaired driving without bioptics
Hypothesis:
Bioptic drivers would have less restricted habits than non-bioptic drivers with similar visual acuity of a similar age

13. Bioptic drivers compared to non-bioptic drivers with AMD1
Age
Visual Acuity
Bioptic CFL
Bioptic drivers with central field loss over 55 yrs 11
75 ± 8
20/126
Non-Bioptic AMD1
Non-bioptic with age-related macular degeneration 30
76 ± 7
20/110
1. DeCarlo et al (2003) Optom Vis Sci; 80:

14. General driving habits
Bioptic CFL
Non-Bioptic AMD
Miles per week 45 10
Drive same speed as general flow (%)
73*
47*
Quality of driving above average (%)
82*
57*
* Chi square, p = 0.1

15. Percentage reporting no difficulty with driving

16. Percentage avoiding driving

17. Bioptic drivers compared to non-bioptic drivers with cataract1 and normal sight1
Age VA
Bioptic Over 55
Bioptic drivers > 55 yrs 15
71 ± 10
20/120
Non-bioptic Cataract1
Non-bioptic, cataract > 55yrs
279
71 ± 6
20/34
Normal1
Normally sighted > 55yrs
105
67 ± 6
20/20
1. Owsley et al (1999) J. Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci; 54:M

18. Percentage reporting driving difficulty*
p < 0.03 *

19. Conclusions Bioptic drivers: Quality of life:
Relatively unrestricted driving habits
Low levels of driving avoidance due to vision impairment
Less restricted driving habits and much lower levels of driving difficulty than non-bioptic drivers with AMD (similar age and VA)
Self-restrict in relation to perceived limitations
Quality of life:
is enhanced through being permitted to drive with a bioptic

20. Acknowledgements Subject recruitment
Chuck Huss (West Virginia Low Vision Driving Program)
Renee Paquin (New Hampshire Association for the Blind)
Bioptic Drivers Network (
Supported in part by NIH grant #EY12890