Reading Ability and Quality of Life in Stargardt Disease

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 740-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittoria Murro ◽  
Andrea Sodi ◽  
Giovanni Giacomelli ◽  
Dario P. Mucciolo ◽  
Monica Pennino ◽  
...  

Purpose To study the reading performance of patients with Stargardt disease (STGD) and the relationship between clinical vision measurements and vision-related quality of life (VRQOL). Methods We studied both eyes of 16 patients with STGD. Each patient was examined for best-corrected visual acuity (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS]), reading ability (MNREAD and REX charts), contrast sensitivity (Pelli-Robson charts), fixation study (MP1 microperimeter), and VRQOL (25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire [NEI VFQ-25]). The correlation pattern among these variables was examined and an exploratory factor analysis was used to investigate dimensionality of both visual function and VRQOL. Results Mean ETDRS visual acuity was about 20/160 (0.9 logMAR). All studied psychophysical measures were highly or moderately correlated with MNREAD reading speed (p<0.05 level). A similar correlation was found between psychophysical measures and VRQOL, which was higher for MNREAD measures of acuity (r = -0.75) and speed (r = 0.74). Accordingly, exploratory factor analysis suggested that a single latent dimension explained most of the variance of vision psychophysical measures as well as of VRQOL. Conclusions We propose that reading ability should be assessed in patients with STGD, since we found that both MNREAD reading speed and visual acuity are strong determinants of quality of life. The observed relation between reading ability and VRQOL in STGD suggests that in these patients appropriate low vision rehabilitation can improve both reading performance and consequently VRQOL. Finally, our data support the use of reading speed and visual acuity as important outcome measures for monitoring STGD progression.

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 274-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lachlan Farmer ◽  
Cecilia Innes-Wong ◽  
Caroline Bergman-Hart ◽  
Robert J. Casson ◽  
John Crompton

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 37-45
Author(s):  
Wen Zhu ◽  
Elena B. Katinas ◽  
Mikhail M. Solovyov ◽  
Karolina Fedotova ◽  
Andrey I. Yaremenko ◽  
...  

Purpose. To evaluate the changes in the quality of life of patients with thyroid eye disease after different methods of orbital decompression. Materials and methods. The study included 24 patients (37 orbits) with thyroid eye disease, aged 41.6 20.6 (from 20 to 79 years), 18 women and 6 men. The patients were divided into two groups. The first group included 12 patients (19 orbits) who underwent orbital fat decompression. The second group included 12 patients (18 orbits) who underwent endoscopic endonasal bony orbital decompression. The Graves ophthalmopathy quality of life questionnaire (GO-QOL) was completed before surgery, and 3 and 6 months after it. Outcome analysis included also the assessment of visual acuity, proptosis, eyelid retraction, and palpebral fissure height. Results. The GO-QOL visual function scores in both groups did not change significantly in 3 and in 6 months after orbital decompression (p 0.05): in the first group, before and after 6 months, scores were 69.27 20.02 and 68.96 18.44, in the second group 53.13 29.13 and 57.81 23.56, respectively. An improvement in the GO-QOL visual function estimation was observed in those patients whose visual acuity improved after surgery. The GO-QOL facial appearance scores significantly improved 3 months after surgery, and continued to increase up to 6 months: in the first group, facial appearance scores improved from 23.96 23.01 to 48.42 25.56 (p = 0.004), in the second group from 47.92 21.04 to 66.15 23.15 (p = 0.037). Conclusions. Orbital decompression significantly improves the quality of life of patients with thyroid eye disease, this is primarily associated with an improvement in facial appearance.


2007 ◽  
Vol 60 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 653-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Slobodanka Latinovic ◽  
Vladimir Canadanovic ◽  
Nikola Babic ◽  
Ljiljana Ljesevic ◽  
Desanka Grkovic ◽  
...  

Introduction. Since 1996, advanced methods and new instruments for the assessment of vision quality of life (VisQoL) index (37 and 15) have been developed and applied at the University Eye Clinic in Novi Sad. Many researches assume that postoperative results should not be evaluated only by postoperative visual acuity, but also by subjective perception of visual function and the patients ability to perform everyday activities, i.e. by quality of life. Therefore, our clinical results were based on both parameters of visual function, as the most objective attributes for assessing outcomes of certain types of cataract surgery. Material and Methods. Based on the results of the Cataract Study in Vojvodina in 2004, 5.7% of patients waiting for cataract surgery were already blind, 16.5% had low vision with cataract on both eyes, and 57% of patients had monocular blindness. Results and Discussion. With improvement of visual acuity to 0.5 or higher, after cataract surgery in 96.5% of patients, the cumulative VisQoL 15-index changed from 59.3 to 95.5. Intraocular lens implantation contributed most to the significant improvement in the vision related quality of life. Our study showed that pseudophakic patients had better quality of life than aphakic patients, who had the same visual acuity and refractive correction. Difficulties in performing everyday activities, such as shopping, using the telephone and reading, were found in 12.7% of aphakic, but only in 3% of pseudophakic patients. Conclusion. Advanced phacoemulsification techniques enable operated cataract patients immediate vision recovery, better quality of life, and personal satisfaction with visual function in everyday activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-68
Author(s):  
Adelia Lisnawati

Cataract is a condition when the lens become cloudy and often occurs in elderly patients. Cataract is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the world. Cataract can reduce productivity and social life, that will decrease the quality of life in elderly patients. It also reduces the visual acuity leading to decreasing visual function and the quality of life. This disease can change physical, cognitive and psychosocial life. This study aimed to analyze the difference of quality of life in elderly patients before and after cataract surgery at SMEC eye clinic in Samarinda. This study was observational analytic study. Data were taken from interview the patients with visual function questionnaire 14 (VFQ 14) and from the medical record of SMEC eye clinic in Samarinda. The results showed a significant difference of quality of life in elderly patients before and after cataract surgery (p = 0,000) with the mean score of quality of life before surgery (x̅= 63,65) was lower than after cataract surgery (x̅= 95,35) and there was significant improvement of the visual acuity after cataract surgery (p = 0,000). Based on these results it can be concluded that there were difference of quality of life in elderly patients before and after cataract surgery.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 885-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Engel ◽  
Stacey Rand ◽  
Renske Hoefman ◽  
Jessica Bucholc ◽  
Cathrine Mihalopoulos ◽  
...  

Background. To incorporate the spillover effects experienced by carers providing informal care in health policy decisions, new carer-related preference-based measures have been developed for use in economic evaluation, which include the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit for Carers (ASCOT-Carer), Carer Experience Scale (CES), and Care-Related Quality of Life (CarerQoL). The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which these 3 instruments measure complementary or overlapping constructs. Methods. Data were derived from an online survey undertaken with carers residing in Australia. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to ascertain the underlying latent constructs of the 3 measures. Results. Data from 351 informal carers yielded a 5-factor model describing general quality of life outside caring, problems due to caring, fulfilment from caring, social support with caring, and relationship with the care recipient. Most of the ASCOT-Carer and the CarerQol items loaded onto the first and second factors, respectively. The greatest overlap was observed between CarerQol and CES items loading onto the other 3 shared common factors. Limitations. Online data collection resulted in inconsistent responses, which had to be removed to yield logical data. A convenience sampling approach may have compromised the generalizability of study findings. Conclusion. Although some overlap was observed, the 3 carer-related preference-based measures seem to tap into different constructs of carer-related quality of life and caring experiences and cannot be used interchangeably.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 62-71
Author(s):  
I. Oladeji Kolawole

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to validate measurement instrument that can be used to determine tourism impacts, people’s quality of life, and support for tourism. The primary data for this study were collected from 394 households in Maun, Botswana. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to measure internal consistency, construct and content validity to explicate the robustness of the factor structures, using principal component analysis (PCA) as an extraction method. Exploratory factor analysis is an applied statistical technique used by researchers to determine relationships within a group of observed variables. The reliability coefficients for the factors were all strong, which shows that the measures were reliable for measuring the latent constructs including economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts, people’s quality of life, and support for tourism development. The results of the factor analysis validate the measurement scale and authenticate the psychometric properties of the tourism impacts, quality of life, and support for tourism scale items. The main contribution of this paper is the development and understanding of psychometrically reliable scale items with content and convergent validity that can be used in tourism studies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 307-311
Author(s):  
Vladimir Canadanovic ◽  
Slobodanka Latinovic ◽  
Nikola Babic ◽  
Aleksandar Miljkovic ◽  
Desanka Grkovic ◽  
...  

Introduction. Senile cataract is an age-related eye disease and one of the most common causes of visual impairment. It is one of the most important causes of reversible blindness in the elderly persons, with a steady increase in prevalence with advanced age. The resulting loss of visual acuity has important implications for physical functions and the overall quality of life of affected individuals. However, cataract related visual loss is completely reversible with modern cataract surgery techniques. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the visual outcomes (visual acuity and visual function) before and after cataract surgery, and to assess patient satisfaction with final surgical outcomes. Material and Methods. This prospective study included 176 consecutive patients with senile cataract who underwent phacoemulsification with a foldable intraocular lens implantation. Evaluation of vision related problems of daily living was done in all patients using a vision related quality of life questionnaire, before and 10 days after the surgery. All patients self-rated their vision-related problems into 4 categories: no problems, small problems, big problems, and very big problems. The results were presented as a vision-related quality of life index. Results. There were 176 patients included in this study, with an average age of 65.4 ? 12 years. The operated patients had significantly better visual acuity than before cataract surgery (p < 0,001), with a median postoperative visual acuity of 0.8. Before cataract surgery, the average vision-related quality of life index was 53.7 (range 21.3 - 87.7). The self-rated vision related problems were present in 59.8% patients before senile cataract surgery, and only in 12.8% of patients undergoing phaco cataract surgery (p<0.001). Ten days after cataract surgery vision-related quality of life index improved to 92.9 (range 57.1 - 98.7). Conclusion. Visual function, self-estimated vision related problems and patients satisfaction are significantly higher after the phaco cataract surgery. We believe that vision related quality of life index is a valid and sensitive tool for visual function and vision-related quality of life evaluation.


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