title: Risk Factors for Poor Quality of Life among Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and compare it with that of healthy controls. Additionally, our study aims to investigate the possible risk factors for poor quality of life in AMD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in the study were 114 patients with AMD, 63 male and 51 female, mean-aged 76.5 ± 6.1 years. Demographic data, lifestyle factors, and medical history were recorded. All patients underwent a routine examination for AMD, including best-corrected visual acuity measurement, dilated fundoscopy and optical coherence tomography, and completed three questionnaires assessing quality of life (SF-36, EQ-5D, NEI VFQ-25). In addition, 100 controls, adjusted for gender and age, were included in the study. Risk factors for quality of life in AMD patients were investigated. Univariate analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with AMD scored lower in vision- and health-related quality-of-life questionnaires compared to controls. Risk factors associated with quality of life in patients with AMD were found to be the female gender, alcohol consumption, the presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, myosceletal problems, migraine, anxiety/depression, subretinal or intraretinal fluid, pigment epithelium detachment, previous treatment for AMD, visual acuity, the stage of the disease, and the integrity of the ellipsoid zone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with AMD presented lower quality of life in comparison with controls. Potential risk factors should be taken into account and clinicians should thus focus on the most vulnerable subgroups.
authors.affiliation: a Second Department of Ophthalmology , Ophthalmiatrion Athinon , Athens , Greece.|b Hellenic Open University , Faculty of Social Sciences , Patra , Greece.
authors.forename: Irini
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chatziralli
authors.affiliation: a Second Department of Ophthalmology , Ophthalmiatrion Athinon , Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mitropoulos
authors.affiliation: a Second Department of Ophthalmology , Ophthalmiatrion Athinon , Athens , Greece.
authors.forename: Efstratios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parikakis
authors.affiliation: b Hellenic Open University , Faculty of Social Sciences , Patra , Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niakas
authors.affiliation: b Hellenic Open University , Faculty of Social Sciences , Patra , Greece.|c Department of Ophthalmology , University Hospital of Alexandroupolis , Alexandroupolis , Greece.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Labiris
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; EQ-5D; SF-36; VFQ-25; quality