Quality of life in patients with visual impairment in Ibadan: a clinical study in primary care

Abstract

BackgroundVisual function is important for optimal orientation in functional and social life, and has an effect on physical and emotional well-being. Visual impairment, therefore, leads to restrictions in all aspects of daily living and is related to quality of life. The aim of this study was to provide information on the causes of visual impairment in patients presenting to their family physician, the spectrum of impairment, and its impact on quality of life for these patients.MethodsThis descriptive cross-sectional study of 375 adult patients with ocular symptoms was performed in the general outpatient department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, from July to September, 2009. After checking their presenting visual acuity, the patients were interviewed using the Vision-Related Quality of Life questionnaire to determine the impact of visual impairment on their quality of life. Ophthalmic examinations were performed to determine the causes of visual impairment. The results were analyzed using proportions and percentages.ResultsThe main causes of visual impairment were cataracts (58.7%), refractive error (19.4%), and glaucoma (2.9%). Visual impairment was found to be associated with advancing age, low education, and unemployment (P<0.001). Most patients (85.1%) were found to have good quality of life overall. Quality of life was found to be poor in the domains of visual function (64.2%) and social interaction (50.9%). Quality of life was found to be related to the degree of visual impairment, ie, blind patients reported poor quality of life (41.4%) when compared with those having low vision (8.6%) or near normal vision (2.4%, P<0.001).ConclusionThis study identified poor quality of life in patients with a higher degree of visual impairment. Family physicians need to identify these visually impaired patients early and make timely referrals.

Vision-Related Quality of Life among Adult Patients with Visual Impairment at University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

“…is might result from most older people considering that visual loss is to be expected in later life and think that nothing can be done to improve the situation. is result is consistent with other studies [3,15,16]. is might be due to that various age-related ocular disorders result in a decline in visual function, and thus have significant effects on patients' VRQOL [17,18].…”

“…Overall the proportion of poor VRQOL in this study was 49.2% (95% CI: 44.2%-53.3%). is result is higher than that in studies conducted in Ibadan, Nigeria (21.5%) [3]. is might be due to the small sample size of patients with visual impairment.…”

“…Vision has a vital role for best performance in functional and social life. Eyesight/vision accounts for about 80% of the function of all the five senses combined [3]. Hence, visual impairment leads to a restriction in all areas of life and, in particular, VRQOL by reducing activities associated with participation in society and religion, mobility, recreation, daily living, and intense visual tasks [4,5].…”

Eye health and quality of life: an umbrella review protocol

“…There has yet to be a global assessment of the impact of eye health, including vision impairment, eye disease and ophthalmic interventions on quality of life across the lifespan, despite the growing number of ophthalmic studies assessing quality of life, and increased value placed on patient-reported outcomes. Prior studies on vision and quality of life have usually focused on specific countries (eg, USA, 24 Finland, 25 South Korea, 26 Nigeria 27 ), populations (eg, Malay population in Singapore, 28 Latino population 29 and indigenous peoples of the Americas 30 in the USA) or settings (eg, community, 31 outpatient clinics 32 ). Even reviews summarising the evidence about the impact of vision on quality of life have usually focused on specific age groups (eg, children, 33 34 older adults 35 ), eye conditions (eg, glaucoma, 36 diabetic retinopathy, 37 dry eye 38 ) or interventions (eg, low vision rehabilitation for children, 34 anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for age-related macular degeneration 39 ).…”

Physical activity and quality of life in persons with visual impairment: an observational study

“…The visual impairment (VI) is characterized by a condition of low vision or blindness, which may result from a disease, trauma, congenital or degenerative condition [1,2]. Both moderate and severe VI are grouped and classified as low vision, which together with blindness represents all vision impairments [3].…”