Frequent visual field testing may help doctors detect progression of the eye disease glaucoma at an earlier stage, a new study says. It’s important to identify patients whose disease is progressing faster so that they can receive more aggressive treatment or more frequent follow-up, the researchers explained. Their study, published online Aug. 8 in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology, included 381 glaucoma patients, aged 35 to 80, who were followed for anywhere from about 3 to 13 years. Glaucoma progression was more likely to be detected in patients who had more visual field tests (a median of 20) than in those with fewer tests (a median of 12).
