Impact of impaired vision and eye disease on quality of life in Andhra Pradesh.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the impact of visual impairment and eye diseases on quality of life (QOL) in an older population of Andhra Pradesh in southern India.


METHODS
The World Health Organization (WHO) QOL (WHOQOL) instrument was adapted as a health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument for administration to adults participating in the Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study. Participants aged 40 years and older (n = 3702), 99.4% of the 3723 eligible, who underwent interview and detailed dilated ocular eye evaluation by trained professionals were included in this study. Psychometric properties of the HRQOL instrument were evaluated among visually impaired people. Relationships among overall QOL scores and presenting visual acuity in the better eye, specific eye diseases, and demographic variables were examined.


RESULTS
Internal consistency was high for the entire questionnaire (alpha = 0.94). Each item of the QOL scale had an adequate item-total correlation (range, 0.25-0.77) greater than 0.2. After adjusting for demographic variables and ocular disease, Subjects with blindness had significantly lower QOL scores. Subjects with glaucoma or corneal disease independent of visual acuity had lower scores than subjects without those eye diseases. Subjects with cataract or retinal disease had significantly lower scores than those without cataract or retinal disease in the model without visual acuity but not when visual acuity was added to the model.


CONCLUSIONS
Decreased QOL was associated with the presence of glaucoma or corneal disease independent of visual acuity and with cataract or retinal disease as a function of visual acuity. Visual impairment from uncorrected refractive errors was not associated with decreased QOL.
Nutheti
Rishita
R
International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye Care, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, India. rishita@lvpei.org
Shamanna
Bindiganavale R
BR
Nirmalan
Praveen K
PK
Keeffe
Jill E
JE
Krishnaiah
Sannapaneni
S
Rao
Gullapalli N
GN
Thomas
Ravi
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities