title: Association between visual field defects and quality of life in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between visual field defects and quality of life in the United States population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 5186 participants in the 2005 through 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 40 years of age and older without a self-reported history of age-related macular degeneration or prior refractive surgery who had undergone frequency doubling technology perimetric testing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frequency doubling technology perimetry was performed in both eyes. Results from the better eye were used to categorize subjects as normal or having mild, moderate, or severe visual field loss. Subjects completed surveys about their visual and physical functioning ability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Disability pertaining to 6 vision-related activities, 2 visual function questions, and 5 physical functioning domains.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-one percent of subjects had normal visual fields and 10%, 7%, and 2% demonstrated mild, moderate, and severe visual field defects, respectively. Subjects with greater severity of visual field defects had greater difficulty with vision-related activities. Subjects with severe visual field defects demonstrated the greatest odds of difficulty with all 6 activities. The 2 activities impacted most adversely were daytime driving in familiar places (odds ratio [OR], 12.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.1-25.1) and noticing objects off to the side when walking (OR, 7.7; 95% CI, 4.7-12.7). Subjects with severe visual field defects had greater odds of worrying about eyesight (OR, 3.4; 95% CI, 2.0-5.8) and being limited by vision in the time spent on daily activities (OR, 5.1; 95% CI, 3.0-8.5). Subjects with severe visual field defects demonstrated the greatest odds of difficulty with 3 physical function domains, including activities of daily living (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.37-4.38), instrumental activities of daily living (OR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.37-4.38), as well as leisure and social activities (OR, 3.29; 95% CI, 1.87-5.77).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greater severity of visual field abnormality was associated with significantly greater odds of disability with vision-related function and physical function. These findings support the necessity of routine screening to find those who may benefit from therapy to prevent progressive glaucomatous vision loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Sophia Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Kuldev
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Electronic address: lins@vision.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Shan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D014481:United States; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields