title: Quality of life of eye amputated patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate eye-amputated patients' health-related quality of life, perceived stress, self-rated health, job separation because of illness or disability and socioeconomic position.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were recruited from a tertiary referral centre situated in Copenhagen. Inclusion criteria were eye amputation, i.e. evisceration, enucleation, orbital exenteration or secondary implantation of an orbital implant during the period 1996-2003, and participation in a previous investigation (2005). In total, 159 eye-amputated patients were included, and completed a self-administered questionnaire containing health-related quality of life (SF-36), the perceived stress scale and answered questions about self-rated health, job changes because of illness or disability and socioeconomic status. These results were compared with findings from the Danish Health Interview Survey 2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The eye-amputated patients had significantly (p < 0.05) lower scores (poorer health) on all SF-36 subscales and more perceived stress compared to the general population. In all, 43.3% of the patients rated their health as excellent or very good compared to 52.1% of the general population. In total, 25% of the study population has retired or changed to a part-time job because of eye disease. The percentage of eye amputated patients, who were divorced or separated, was twice as high as in the general population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The impact of an eye amputation is considerable. The quality of life, perceived stress and self-rated health of many eye-amputated patients are drastically changed. Eye amputation has a marked negative influence on job separation because of illness or disability and on socioeconomic position.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Eye Pathology Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark. dr.roed@gmail.com
authors.forename: Marie L R
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.forename: Ola
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ekholm
authors.forename: Jan U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Prause
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Toft
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003718:Denmark; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004651:Employment; D015353:Eye Enucleation / Q000523:psychology*; D017234:Eye Evisceration / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017233:Orbit Evisceration / Q000523:psychology*; D020273:Orbital Implants; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires