title: The impact of low vision on activities of daily living, symptoms of depression, feelings of anxiety and social support in community-living older adults seeking vision rehabilitation services.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies showed that older persons with vision loss generally reported low levels of health-related quality of life, although study outcomes with respect to feelings of anxiety and social support were inconsistent. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of low vision on health-related quality of life, including feelings of anxiety and social support, among community-living older adults seeking vision rehabilitation services.
  
  
  METHODS
  Differences of activities of daily living (Groningen Activity Restriction Scale-GARS), symptoms of depression and feelings of anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales-HADS) and social support (Social Support Scale Interactions-SSL12-I) between 148 older persons ≥57 years with low vision and a reference population (N = 4,792) including eight patient groups with different chronic conditions were tested with Student's t tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older persons with vision loss reported poorer levels of functioning with respect to activities of daily living, symptoms of depression and feelings of anxiety as compared to the general older population as well as compared to older patients with different chronic conditions. In contrast, older persons with vision loss reported higher levels of social support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vision loss has a substantial impact on activities of daily living, symptoms of depression and feelings of anxiety. Professionals working at vision rehabilitation services may improve their quality of care as they take such information into account in their intervention work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, and CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. G.Kempen@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors.forename: Gertrudis I J M
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Kempen
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ballemans
authors.forename: Adelita V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Ranchor
authors.forename: Ger H M B
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: van Rens
authors.forename: G A Rixt
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Zijlstra
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000534:rehabilitation*
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