Vision-related quality-of-life in Jamaican glaucoma patients at Kingston Public Hospital

Abstract

AIM: To determine the vision-related quality-of-life of glaucoma patients and the association between clinical and socioeconomic factors, and vision-related quality-of-life. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. Consecutive patients with glaucoma were interviewed using a modified 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25) by a single interviewer. Statistical analysis was done to find associations between patient variables and vision-related quality-of-life scores. Confidentiality and anonymity were maintained. RESULTS: Ninety-six participants were recruited in the study. There were 44 males and the mean age for males and females was 65.7 and 69.5y, respectively. The mean composite score was 71.2 (with a maximum possible score of 100), with the highest mean score in the colour vision subscale (89.8) and the lowest mean score in the driving subscale (34.0). Worse visual acuity (P<0.001), longer duration of glaucoma (P<0.001) and higher number of glaucoma medications (P<0.001) were associated with a worse composite score. Female participants and those who lived in urban areas had significantly better scores than male participants (P=0.002) and those who lived in rural areas (P=0.017), respectively. CONCLUSION: The vision-related quality-of-life in Jamaican glaucoma patients is comparable to that of glaucoma patients in the Barbados Eye Study and other international studies using the VFQ-25 questionnaire. Worse quality-of-life scores are associated with poorer visual acuity, longer duration of glaucoma, more glaucoma medications, and sociodemographic factors such as male gender and rural residence.