Impact of age-related macular degeneration on vision-specific quality of life: Follow-up from the 10-year and 15-year visits of the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.
OBJECTIVE
To assess vision-specific quality of life (QOL), based on abbreviated surveys derived from the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ), in a cohort of United States women who participated in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures.


METHODS
Prospective, observational cohort study.


METHODS
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) status, based on a 3-level classification (no AMD, early AMD, late AMD), and vision-specific QOL, based on abbreviated NEI-VFQ surveys, were calculated for 1674 women enrolled in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures at 4 centers within the United States who had gradable fundus photographs at both the 10-year and 15-year follow-up visits. The associations among 5-year changes in NEI-VFQ composite scores, change in AMD status, and distance visual acuity were examined.


RESULTS
Compared with study participants without AMD at both visits, study participants with late AMD at both visits and those who progressed from early AMD to late AMD demonstrated the greatest declines in adjusted NEI-VFQ composite scores, up to a mean decrease of 16.2 from a scale of 100. Visual acuity declines also were most prominent for patients with late AMD at both visits and for those who progressed from early AMD to late AMD. Change in visual acuity was found to correlate significantly with change in vision-specific QOL.


CONCLUSIONS
The abbreviated NEI-VFQ surveys provide reliable assessments of vision-specific QOL in AMD patients. The decline in vision-specific QOL associated with the progression of AMD is clinically meaningful.
Coleman
Anne L
AL
Jules Stein Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, USA. colemana@ucla.edu
Yu
Fei
F
Ensrud
Kristine E
KE
Stone
Katie L
KL
Cauley
Jane A
JA
Pedula
Kathryn L
KL
Hochberg
Marc C
MC
Mangione
Carol M
CM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005598:Fractures, Spontaneous / Q000503:physiopathology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*