Objective of the study: The visual system
can be affected adversely by various diseases.
Diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension,
both of which are associated with alterations
in the retinal blood supply, are – for demographic
reasons – increasing in importance in
workers in the age group suffering from metabolic
syndromes. Thus attention should be
paid specifically to these groups of patients,
also while they are still of working age. Intact
eye-sight is necessary for many professions.
The aim of this pilot study was to determine
the influence of chronic diabetes mellitus and
arterial hypertension on the contrast sensitivity
of patients.
Methods and Subjects: Contrast sensitivity
was examined by means of the VISTECH-table
VCTS 6000 (Vision Contrast Test System).
The 98 voluntary subjects (between 19 and
65 years old; average age 51.4 ± 10.72 years)
were each assigned to one of 4 groups (one
control group and 3 patient groups: diabetics,
hypertensive patients, and patients with
both of these diseases). Only 70 of these subjects
could be matched for age and sex for
the subsequent analysis.
Results: The results showed that the VTCS
values were significantly decreased especially
in patients with diabetes mellitus. Likewise,
contrast sensitivity was reduced in patients
with both diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension.
The period of time since diagnosis
of the diseases was not correlated with the
contrast sensitivity.
Conclusions: Impaired contrast sensitivity
can be an effect of diseases which persist for
years. The results described here indicate a
need for occupational medical follow-up of
such chronically ill patients.
