Formal and informal care utilisation amongst elderly persons with visual impairment.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the determinants of formal and informal care utilisation amongst persons with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).


METHODS
Cross-sectional hospital-based study.


METHODS
Hospital eye clinic in Northern Ireland.


METHODS
284 persons aged >or=50 years.


METHODS
Participants were questioned about their care, living arrangements, eyesight-related ability to self-care, and eyesight-related need to be more careful whilst undertaking everyday tasks.


RESULTS
The percentage of older persons receiving formal and informal care rose with the level of visual impairment. 34.9% and 37.3% of those with no visual impairment received formal and informal care, respectively, compared with 51.6% and 69.9% of those with moderate visual impairment and 55.6% and 88.9% of those with severe visual impairment. Three factors (age, best corrected distance visual acuity in the better eye and living alone) were significant predictors (p<0.05) of care utilisation. The likelihood of someone utilising formal care rose with increasing age, severity of visual impairment and living alone. There is an approximate one-to-one trade-off between age and visual acuity such that a difference of one line of vision is equivalent to approximately 1 year of life to the affected individual as regards its impact on the probability of care utilisation.


CONCLUSIONS
Care utilisation is predicted by age, visual acuity in the better eye and living arrangement. These findings question the validity of the current practice of defining the need for statutory services on the basis of visual acuity alone. These data may have implications for cost utility analyses of new therapeutic developments in macular degeneration.
Ke
Kathleen M
KM
School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen's University, Belfast, UK.
Montgomery
Anne-Marie
AM
Stevenson
Michael
M
O'Neill
Ciaran
C
Chakravarthy
Usha
U
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012648:Self Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012847:Single Person; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology