[A study on visual function and quality of life in elderly population].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the visual impairment by visual function and quality of life assessment in elderly population.


METHODS
All subjects aged >or= 50 years were identified by randomly clustering sampling. Visual Function and Quality of Life Questionnaire (VF/QOL) was administered by 5 interviewers for all subjects with presenting visual acuity less than 0.1 in at least one eye (as visual impairment group) and part of the subjects with presenting visual acuity better than 0.3 in both eyes (as control group).


RESULTS
Five hundred and thirty-five eligible visual impairment subjects (90.8%) and 119 control subjects were successfully interviewed. In a 0 - 100 scores' scale, the subjective VF and QOL mean scores were 51.0 and 65.9 respectively. The mean score was correlated with age, sex and education. Mean VF and QOL scores decreased from 84.4 and 93.4 to 14.6 and 31.2 along with the visual status worsening from normal to severe blindness respectively. In stepwise linear regression model, the VF and QOL scores were significantly correlated with age and education instead of sex.


CONCLUSIONS
In elderly population with visual impairment, subjective visual function and quality of lift status are deteriorated substantially. Their scores are significantly correlated with age and education.
He
M
M
Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 510060.
Xu
J
J
Wu
K
K
Li
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity