title: Utility values for glaucoma in Brazil and their correlation with visual function.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to identify the utility values in a group of Brazilian patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and to assess its impact on visual acuity (VA) and mean deviation index values.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study of consecutive patients with POAG, who were interviewed using three methods for obtaining utility values: time trade-off (TTO), standard gamble anchored at risk of death (SG1), and standard gamble anchored at risk of blindness (SG2). Visual function variables (VA and mean deviation index in the better eye) and sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and educational level) were also obtained for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age (± standard deviation) of the study population (n=227) was 65.7 (±15.1) years. Mean utility values for the entire population were 0.82 from TTO, 0.90 from SG1, and 0.93 from SG2 (P<0.0001). Age, race, and sex had no influence on the utility values. Higher education tended to predict higher values by TTO, but not by SG1 or SG2. Visual function variables had an influence on utility values. The more advanced the visual loss, whether measured by VA or perimetry, in the better eye, the lower the utility values by all three methods.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We obtained utility values for Brazilian patients with POAG, as well as specific values for different levels of vision loss.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil ; Paletta Guedes Ophthalmological Center, Juiz de Fora, Brazil ; Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo Augusto
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Paletta Guedes
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil ; Paletta Guedes Ophthalmological Center, Juiz de Fora, Brazil ; Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanessa Maria
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Paletta Guedes
authors.affiliation: Paletta Guedes Ophthalmological Center, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sirley Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaoubah
keywords: disease severity; primary open-angle glaucoma; quality of life; utility; visual acuity