title: Vision-related quality of life in children with retinopathy of prematurity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effect of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) on vision-related quality of life in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Children's Visual Function Questionnaire (CVFQ), an instrument that evaluates vision-related quality of life in children, was used. It is divided into 6 subscales: General Health, Vision Health, Competence, Personality, Family Impact, and Treatment. The sample consisted of parents of premature children up to 3 years of age who had ROP and no neurological damage (ROP group) and parents of premature children up to 3 years of age who had normal vision and absence of other diseases (control group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 88 subjects in total, 43 in the ROP group and 45 in the control group. The ROP group had lower scores on the CVFQ than the control group. The Total Index and all CVFQ subscale scores and for were significant lower in the ROP group than in the control group. The ROP group was divided according to the severity of the disease. The Total Index, Vision Health, and Competence scores in children with more severe ROP were significantly lower than those in children with less severe ROP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ROP was shown to have a negative effect on vision-related quality of life in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BR.
authors.forename: Alcione Aparecida
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Messa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BR.
authors.forename: Ricardo Belfort
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Mattos
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Informatics, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BR.
authors.forename: Kelsy Catherina Nema
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Areco
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BR.
authors.forename: Juliana Maria Ferraz
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sallum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult