Assessment of function related to vision (AFREV).
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship of a performance-based measure of visual functioning to clinical and subjective measures in glaucoma patients.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey of glaucoma patients.


METHODS
Forty-three patients with primary open-angle glaucoma.


METHODS
Patients were evaluated using a novel performance-based measure, the Assessment of Function Related to Vision (AFREV), standard clinical tests of visual function, and the National Eye Institute's Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), a self-reported quality of life measure. Correlations of the AFREV scores with visual field scores, monocular and binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity scores, and NEI-VFQ scores were calculated. Rasch analysis was used to estimate the visual ability required by each task of AFREV for a particular response (item measures) and to estimate the visual ability of each patient (person measures).


METHODS
AFREV and NEI-VFQ total scores.


RESULTS
The AFREV total scores were highly correlated with contrast sensitivity (r = 0.772), binocular visual acuity (r = -0.768), better-eye visual acuity (r = -0.737), worse-eye visual acuity (r = -0.675), and Estermann visual field efficiency scores (r = 0.606) as well as with NEI-VFQ scores (r = 0.70). The resulting index, constructed from 5 items of the AFREV, is unidimensional, thereby satisfying the primary assumption of the Rasch model. The Rasch person-item map demonstrates that the "putting stick into holes" and "reading small print" tests require the most visual ability.


CONCLUSIONS
The AFREV performance-based measure, a new test of a spectrum of activities, correlates well with some standard measures of visual function and certain aspects of self-report assessments. AFREV appears to be a valid measure of performance ability that may provide information not obtainable from standard measures of visual function or subjective surveys.
Altangerel
Undraa
U
Wills Eye Hospital/Jefferson Medical College, William & Anna Goldberg Glaucoma Service & Research Laboratories, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
Spaeth
George L
GL
Steinmann
William C
WC
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity