Health-related quality of life in patients with age-related macular degeneration

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease of the retina that not only affects the visual function, but also influences the patient’s general health and quality of life. For this reason, visual health assessment, which typically uses clinical indicators, should also include an evaluation that would allow to get a numerical value that represents the disease within the functional state of the patient. <em><strong>Objective</strong><em> To establish statistically significant differences in health-related quality of life (HRQL) in participants diagnosed with AMD and in healthy patients. <em><strong>Methodology:</strong><em> Cross-sectional observational analytical study based on a sample of a total of 17 healthy participants and 13 participants with AMD for pilot tests. A specialist performed a retinal assessment and applied the HRQL questionnaire called the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25). Subsequently, a statistical analysis was developed to correlate data from the two groups. <em><strong>Results:</strong><em> Differences in HRQL were established among participants with AMD and healthy individuals statistically significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were found in the following subscales: general vision, near activities, distance activity, social functioning, difficulty in a role, visual dependency, color vision, and well-being and suffering. <em><strong>Conclusions:</strong><em> Participants with AMD presented with a decrease in HRQOL, associated with lower scores on the NEI VFQ-25 subscales.