RETINAL LIGHT SENSITIVITY OF THE CENTRAL VISUAL-FIELD AMONG 70-YEAR-OLD TO 81-YEAR-OLD MEN AND WOMEN

Retinal light sensitivity of the central visual field (0.30-degrees), visual acuity, intraocular pressure and pupillary size were screened i n 42 men and 42 women aged 70 to 81 years. The subjects were randomly selected from the population register. After excluding the diagnosed g laucoma cases, the men had better visual field light sensitivity value s than the women. They also had lower intraocular pressure and a wider pupillary diameter than the women, whereas there were no differences in visual acuity between the sexes. When the effect of pupillary size was controlled the differences in visual field light sensitivity value s between men and women became nonsignificant. Among these elderly peo ple there was a negative correlation between retinal light sensitivity and age among the men but not among the women.