LAUSR

BackgroundThe cost of managing a chronic disease like glaucoma is quite large. A convenient and economical monitoring tool like self-reported measures of Quality of Life (QoL) could have the potential to significantly reduce the health economic burden of this disease. However, evidence about whether QoL can effectively reflect both subjective and objective clinical outcomes of visual functions in glaucoma patients is lacking. In this paper, we examined the relationships between both subjective and objective visual functions and QoL in glaucoma patients.MethodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled 107 patients with a broad range of glaucomatous visual function loss. Subjective visual function loss was assessed using tests of visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS) and visual field (VF). Evaluation of objective visual function was performed using pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP). National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (NEI VFQ-25) and Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 (GQL-15) were used to measure QoL. Uni- and multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations between all the clinical variables with Rasch-calibrated QoL scores.ResultsUnivariate analysis revealed that worse Rasch-calibrated NEI VFQ and GQL scores were associated with poorer VA and CS in both the better eye (BE) and the worse eye (WE), and with worse VF mean deviation, VF pattern standard deviation and PVEP latency and amplitude in 15 min check size in the WE (P < 0.05). Multivariable linear regression analysis revealed that, after adjusting for age, gender, duration of glaucoma, glaucoma severity and glaucoma type, Rasch-calibrated NEI VFQ-25 person measure scores were significantly associated with PVEP latency in 15 min check size [β = − 0.347, 95% CI: (− 0.618, − 0.118), P = 0.001] in the WE; Rasch-calibrated GQL-15 person measure scores were significantly associated with PVEP amplitude in 15 min check size [β = − 0.338, 95% CI: (− 0.588, − 0.108), P < 0.001] in the WE.ConclusionsSelf-reported measures of QoL could be supplemental tools for assessing both subjective and objective visual functions in glaucoma patients.