Longitudinal cohort study of patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy. V. Quality of life at baseline.
OBJECTIVE
To describe results of a vision-specific quality-of-life (QOL) questionnaire at baseline examination of 80 subjects in a longitudinal cohort study of birdshot chorioretinopathy and to identify relationships between these results and measures of visual function.


METHODS
Single-center, cross-sectional study.


METHODS
The National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) was administered to all subjects. NEI VFQ-25 composite scores were compared with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), symptoms, color confusion scores, and parameters from automated perimetry (mean deviation [MD], total deviation) for the better eye (with regard to the factor being studied) of each subject. Selected measures of visual function were compared with the 12 subscale scores.


RESULTS
The median composite score was 76.8 (range, 7.8 to 99.4). Worse composite scores were related to decreased BCVA (P = .030), but the correlation was weak, and subjects with normal BCVA (> or = 1.0) in both eyes had composite scores as low as 37.7. Lower composite scores were related to symptoms of blurry vision (P = .0097), nyctalopia (< .0001), poor contrast (P = .002), vibrating vision (P = .014), and poor peripheral vision (P = .007). Lower composite scores were related to worse MD (P = .005). Although nyctalopia and MD are related, each was associated with composites scores on multivariate analysis. Nyctalopia was associated with the largest number of subscales having decreased scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Birdshot chorioretinopathy has an impact on vision-specific QOL. BCVA alone does not explain decreased vision-specific QOL in our cohort; changes in automated perimetry and symptoms seem to be important contributors to alterations in QOL that are independent of BCVA changes.
Levinson
Ralph D
RD
Ocular Inflammatory Disease Center, Jules Stein Eye Institute and the Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA. levinson@jsei.ucla.edu
Monnet
Dominique
D
Yu
Fei
F
Holland
Gary N
GN
Gutierrez
Peter
P
Brezin
Antoine P
AP
D015862:Choroid Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055253:Color Vision / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology