title: [Quantification of subjective visual quality of life in glaucoma patients : first results of a German version of the GQL-15 questionnaire].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is an increasing interest in assessing the quality of life as an additional guide for therapeutic choices, especially in patients with chronic diseases, e.g. glaucoma. Most standardized questionnaires are available in English making them inapplicable for daily use in non-English-speaking environments. The "Glaucoma Quality of Life 15 Questionnaire" (GQL-15) is a test designed for glaucoma patients in English and was translated into German in order to analyze its practicability in a daily clinical setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  The GQL-15 was handed out to glaucoma patients during the hospital stay. The questionnaires were analyzed retrospectively and correlated to clinical indices, such as age, visual acuity, visual field, parametric mean deviation (MD) and frequency of pharmacologic treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 31 patients were evaluated. It could be demonstrated that the quality of life summary scores correlated with visual field loss. Evaluation of subscale scores of visual function revealed that glare and dark adaptation were correlated with glaucoma severity especially in the early stages of the disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The German translation of the GQL-15 was well accepted by glaucoma patients. In our analysis disability of vision-related activities as expressed in the translated GQL-15 correlated with glaucoma severity. This first use of the translated GQL-15 encourages further studies in German glaucoma patients and their quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Augenklinik der Universität zu Köln, Köln, Deutschland. lappaa@uni-koeln.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lappas
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Foerster
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schild
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosentreter
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Dietlein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003623:Dark Adaptation; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D019466:Glare; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014794:Visual Fields; D055815:Young Adult