Affiliations: [a] Otolaryngology Department, General Hospital of Chania, Greece | [b] Otolaryngology Department, School of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larisa, Greece | [c] First Otolaryngology Department, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Theognosia S. Chimona, Otolaryngology Department, General Hospital of Chania, Greece. Tel.: +30 2821022797; Mobile: +30 6945432145; E-mail: chimonath@yahoo.gr
Abstract: The aim of the present study was the investigation of age influenced changes
in ocular motility testing in healthy subjects. Two hundred and fifty subjects between 18 and 70 years old were enrolled in a prospective
study. Study population was divided in 5 groups of 50 subjects each
(group A: 18-30 years old, group B: 31-40 years old, group C: 41-50 years
old, group D: 51-60 years old and group E: 61-70 years old). Ocular motility
was recorded by video-oculography and age related normative data were
obtained with respect to: a) gain and slow phase velocity of smooth pursuit
tracking, b) latency, velocity and accuracy of saccade eye movements and c)
gain and slow phase velocity of optokinetic eye movements. The influence of
age on all parameters was examined by one-way ANOVA. A statistically
significant difference was found in all parameters analyzed for
smooth pursuit test, saccade eye movements and optokinetic eye movements in
between groups. In conclusion, aging influences the majority of the
parameters in ocular motility testing, carried out by means of
video-oculography. Elderly healthy subjects showed a deterioration of
performance in all parameters of the eye tracking tested. Age must be taken
into account during interpretation of the eye tracking tests, especially in
patients with central nervous system lesions.
