Reproducibility of morphoscopic contrast sensitivity testing with the Visual Capacity Analyzer.

Purpose: To determine the reproducibility of morphoscopic contrast sensitivity test values in healthy subjects using the Visual Capacity Analyzer (VCA) (L2 Informatique).

Setting: Institute of Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Yong-Dong Severance Hospital, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.

Methods: Five healthy volunteers were recruited for this study. With the VCA, 1 eye of each person was tested with different sized letters displayed on a computer screen at 11 spatial frequencies ranging from low (3.0 cycles/deg [cpd]) to high (30.0 cpd). The measurement was repeated 5 times under 2 screen luminance levels (maximum and 3 cd/m2).

Results: Under maximum luminance background, the coefficient of variation (CV) and reliability coefficient (RC) at the spatial frequencies examined ranged from 4.3% to 35.0% and 89.1% to 99.8%, respectively. Under a screen luminance of 3 cd/m2, the CV ranged from 0.5% to 15.9% and the RC, from 97.5% to 100.0%.

Conclusion: At the spatial frequencies examined, morphoscopic contrast sensitivity testing using the VCA had a high level of reproducibility and may be useful in measuring a patient's visual function in the actual environment.