title: Persistent Impairment of Quality of Life in Patients with Herpes Simplex Keratitis.
abstract: To evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in patients with quiescent herpes simplex keratitis compared with control patients without ocular herpes.
  
  
  
  Prospective, case-control study.
  
  
  
  Thirty-three patients with a unilateral and relapsing herpes simplex keratitis (HSK group) that was quiescent during evaluation (no acute episode in the past 3 months) and 66 patients with no history of HSK (control group). Both groups were age and gender matched.
  
  
  
  Three previously validated QoL questionnaires were used in this study: the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25), Glaucoma Quality of Life 17 (Glau-QoL17) questionnaire, and Ocular Surface Disease Quality of Life (OSD-QoL) questionnaire. Each questionnaire covered various aspects of the disease.
  
  
  
  The outcomes of the 3 questionnaires were compared between groups. For the HSK group, the results were correlated to the clinical findings and the history of herpetic disease.
  
  
  
  The mean total questionnaire scores of the 3 QoL questionnaires were significantly lower in the HSK group compared with controls (NEI VFQ-25: 70.5±3.8 vs. 91.1±0.8, P < 0.0001; Glau-QoL17: 68.2±3.1 vs. 87.9±1.0, P < 0.0001; and OSD-QoL: 65.4±2.9 vs. 93.1±0.6, P < 0.0001, respectively). In the HSK group, the level of visual acuity (VA) in the affected eye had the greatest impact on QoL, inducing lower QoL results related to "general vision," "distance activities," "dependency," "peripheral vision," "self-image," "daily living," and "driving" dimensions. Decreased VA in the unaffected eye also negatively affected "self-image" and "driving" results. Patients with frequent HSK relapses had lower QoL related to "ocular pain" and "acknowledgement."
  
  
  
  Even during a quiescent phase of the disease, unilateral and relapsing HSK significantly impairs the QoL of patients to a similar level as most sight-threatening diseases. The decrease of VA has the greatest overall effect, but other factors also significantly affect QoL, such as the frequency of relapses.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DHU Vision et Handicap, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Clotilde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reynaud
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DHU Vision et Handicap, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France; Department of Virology, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DHU Vision et Handicap, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Godefroy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaswin
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DHU Vision et Handicap, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: M'garrech
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DHU Vision et Handicap, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barreau
authors.affiliation: Service d'Ophtalmologie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Médecine, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, DHU Vision et Handicap, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France; Department of Virology, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. Electronic address: marc.labetoulle@aphp.fr.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Labetoulle
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016849:Keratitis, Herpetic / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000821:virology; D014792:Visual Acuity