Contrast sensitivity and disability glare in the middle years

Spatial contrast sensitivity and disability glare were measured in a large sample (n = 90, 30 per decade) of middle-aged subjects, aged 21-50 years, who had clear media and were ophthalmologically normal. We found no significant differences in the contrast sensitivities as a function of age in the middle years for (1) gratings generated on a monitor; (2) interference gratings generated in the retinal plane; (3) gratings in the presence of glare; and (4) mesopic increment thresholds with and without glare. The large sample size provides sufficient statistical power (0.8) for one to conclude that contrast sensitivity, optical quality, and foveal neural sensitivity are unlikely to vary more than 0.1 log unit between the ages of 21 and 50 in ophthalmologically normal subjects with clear media.