Comparing the structure-function relationship between the visual fields measured with variational Bayes linear regression and SITA standard

by Ryo Asaoka, Hiroshi Murata, Yuri Fujino, Shuichiro Aoki, Kazunori Hirasawa, Nobuyuki Shoji

We recently constructed an algorithm to measure visual field (VF) using the variational Bayes linear regression (VBLR). This algorithm enabled a faster VF measurement than the Swedish interactive thresholding algorithm (SITA) standard while maintaining the test-retest reproducibility (Murata H, et al. Br J Ophthalmol 2021). The current study aimed to compare the structure-function relationship between the SITA standard and VBLR.

In 78 eyes of 56 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, VF measurements were conducted using both SITA standard and VBLR VF, as well as spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. The structure-function relationship was investigated between visual sensitivity and circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer in the whole VF. This analysis was repeated for each of the 12 sectors (30 degrees). The strength of the structure-function relationship was evaluated using the second-order bias-corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc) index.

In the whole VF, AICc values of SITA standard and VBLR were 601.6 and 597.3, respectively. The relative likelihood that VBLR had a better structure-function relationship than the SITA standard was 88.2% (when the entire field was averaged) or 99.9% (when all test points were analyzed in the pointwise manner). With the sector-wise analysis, SITA standard had a better structure-function relationship than VBLR in 1 sector (Superior sector in the retina), whereas VBLR had a better structure-function relationship than SITA standard in 4 sectors (Supero-Nasal, Infero-Nasal, Inferior, and Infero-Temporal sectors) with >95% relative likelihood.

Although it depends on locations and similar between SITA standard and VBLR-VF, but VBLR-VF had a better structure-function relationship than the SITA standard overall.