title: Impact of pediatric vision impairment on daily life:  results of focus groups.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify through focus groups of visually impaired children and their parents, relevant content for a vision-targeted health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire designed for children aged 6 to 12 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six focus groups of children with vision impairment aged 6 to 12 years and six focus groups of their parents were conducted by trained facilitators using a guided script. Sessions were recorded, transcribed, and coded as per a standardized protocol for content analysis. Comments were placed in thematic categories and each was coded as positive, negative, or neutral.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four children (mean age: 9.4 years) with vision impairment from a variety of causes and 23 parents participated in the study. The child focus groups generated 1,163 comments, of which 52% (n = 599) were negative, 12% (n = 138) were neutral, and 37% (n = 426) were positive. The three most common topical areas among children were: glasses and adaptive equipment (18%), psychosocial (14%), and school (14%). The parent focus groups generated 1952 comments of which 46% (n = 895) were negative, 16% (n = 323) were neutral, and 38% (n = 734) were positive. The three most common topical areas among parents were: school (21%), expectations or frustrations (14%), and psychosocial (13%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pediatric vision impairment has significant effects on HRQoL, as reported by children with vision impairment and their parents in their own words. These findings will provide the content to guide construction of a survey instrument to assess vision-specific, HRQoL in children with vision impairment.
authors.affiliation: UAB Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation, Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35233, USA. ddecarlo@uab.edu
authors.forename: Dawn K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Decarlo
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McGwin
authors.forename: Martha L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bixler
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wallander
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Owsley
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000523:psychology*