title: The association between clinical parameters and glaucoma-specific quality of life in Chinese primary open-angle glaucoma patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE. To investigate the association between clinical measurements and glaucoma-specific quality of life in Chinese glaucoma patients. DESIGN. Cross-sectional study. SETTING. An academic hospital in Hong Kong. PATIENTS. A Chinese translation of the Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 questionnaire was completed by 51 consecutive patients with bilateral primary open-angle glaucoma. The binocular means of several clinical measurements were correlated with Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 findings using Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression. The measurements were the visual field index and pattern standard deviation from the Humphrey Field Analyzer, Snellen best-corrected visual acuity, presenting intra-ocular pressure, current intra-ocular pressure, average retinal nerve fibre layer thickness via optical coherence tomography, and the number of topical anti-glaucoma medications being used. RESULTS. In these patients, there was a significant correlation and linear relationship between a poorer Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 score and a lower visual field index (r=0.3, r(2)=0.1, P=0.01) and visual acuity (r=0.3, r(2)=0.1, P=0.03). A thinner retinal nerve fibre layer also correlated with a poorer Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 score, but did not attain statistical significance (r=0.3, P=0.07). There were no statistically significant correlations for the other clinical parameters with the Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 scores (all P values being >0.7). The three most problematic activities affecting quality of life were "adjusting to bright lights", "going from a light to a dark room or vice versa", and "seeing at night". CONCLUSION. For Chinese primary open-angle glaucoma patients, binocular visual field index and visual acuity correlated linearly with glaucoma-specific quality of life, and activities involving dark adaptation were the most problematic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Jacky W Y
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Catherine W S
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Jonathan C H
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Jimmy S M
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000378:metabolism; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Asian continental ancestry group; Glaucoma, open-angle; Quality of life