Background and objectives Patients with neurodegenerative disorders often experience impairments in visual function. In research and clinical care, visual problems are primarily understood as objective visual impairments. Subjective complaints, referring to complaints from a patient's perspective, receive less attention, while they are of utmost clinical importance to guide assessment and rehabilitation. A 21-item Screening of Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVC) was developed for the assessment of subjective visual complaints in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. This prospective study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the SVC in a large community sample. Methods A stratified convenience sample of 1,461 healthy Dutch participants (18-95 years) without severe self-reported neurological, ophthalmological or psychiatric conditions completed the SVC, Cerebral Visual Complaints questionnaire (CVC-q), National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI-VFQ-25), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-A (BRIEF-A), Questionnaire for Experiences of Attention Deficits (Fragebogen erlebter Defizite der Aufmerkzamkeit; FEDA), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the Structured Inventory for Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) online. After two weeks, 66 participants completed the SVC again. We evaluated the factor structure, internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and test-retest reliability of the SVC. Results The sample was split in two subsamples to perform exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. In the first subsample, the exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors from

Background The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq) is a short questionnaire to screen for visual complaints in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Objective The current study aims to investigate the factor structure of the SVCq to increase the usability of this measure in clinical practice and facilitate the interpretation of visual complaints in people with PD. Methods We performed a confirmatory factor analysis using the 19 items of the SVCq of 581 people with PD, investigating the fit of three models previously found in a community sample: a one-factor model including all items, and models where items are distributed across either three or five factors. The clinical value of derived subscales was explored by comparing scores with age-matched controls (N = 583), and by investigating relationships to demographic and disease related characteristics. Results All three models showed a good fit in people with PD, with the five-factor model outperforming the three-factor and one-factor model. Five factors were distinguished: ‘Diminished visual perception–Function related’ (5 items), ‘Diminished visual perception–Luminance related’ (3 items), ‘Diminished visual perception–Task related’ (3 items), ‘Altered visual perception’ (6 items), and ‘Ocular discomfort’ (2 items). On each subscale, people with PD reported more complaints than controls, even when there was no ophthalmological condition present. Furthermore, subscales were sensitive to relevant clinical characteristics, like age, disease duration, severity, and medication use. Conclusions The five-factor model showed a good fit in people with PD and has clinical relevance. Each subscale provides a solid basis for individualized visual care.

Background: Scientific research increasingly focuses on visual symptoms of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, this mostly involves functional measures, whereas self-reported data are equally important for guiding clinical care. Objective: This review sprovides an overview of the nature and prevalence of self-reported visual complaints by people with PD, compared to healthy controls. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed. Studies from three databases (PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) were screened for eligibility. Only studies that reported results of visual self-reports in people with idiopathic PD were included. Results: One hundred and thirty-nine eligible articles were analyzed. Visual complaints ranged from function-related complaints (e.g., blurred vision, double vision, increased sensitivity to light or changes in contrast sensitivity) to activity-related complaints (e.g., difficulty reading, reaching, or driving). Visual complaints were more prevalent in people with PD compared to healthy controls. The presence of visual complaints leads to a reduced quality of life (QoL). Increased prevalence and severity of visual complaints in people with PD are related to longer disease duration, higher disease severity, and off-state. Conclusion: A large proportion of people with PD have visual complaints, which negatively affect QoL. Complaints are diverse in nature, and specific and active questioning by clinicians is advised to foster timely recognition, acknowledgement, and management of these complaints.

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