A very short version of the Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-3oo7) for use as a routinely applied Patient-Reported Outcome Measure.

Martijn S Visser,Jan J.V Busschbach,Hans G Lemij,Karlijn J Nijmeijer,Emine Kilic,Reinier Timman

doi:10.1111/aos.14378

Abstract

BackgroundPatient‐reported outcome measures (PROMs) are valuable supplements in regular care to facilitate routine monitoring of quality of life from the patient’s perspective. The 25‐item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI‐VFQ‐25) is a widely used PROM in ophthalmology. However, the NEI‐VFQ‐25 is too time‐consuming and cumbersome for routine evaluations in regular care. The aim of this study is to construct a 7‐item questionnaire of which only 3 items are presented to the patient, by means of routing. This VFQ 3 out of 7 (VFQ‐3oo7) should have a minimal loss of information compared with the NEI‐VFQ‐25.MethodsAn historical database including 3293 administrations of the NEI‐VFQ‐25 was constructed involving patients with retinal detachment, cataract, corneal diseases, glaucoma, macular degeneration, uveal melanoma and a normal population sample. The data were subjected to Rasch analyses, in particular a generalized partial credit model. Items were sorted on the latent trait and divided into seven categories. From each category, the item with the highest discriminative value was selected. Through routing, only three out of the seven remaining questions are used, where the answers navigate patients to a fitting trait level.ResultsA one‐dimensional structure was considered fitting. The VFQ‐3oo7 showed a small loss of information compared with the total score of the NEI‐VFQ‐25: correlation 0.927 and a relative precision of 0.868.ConclusionThe very short, but valid, VFQ‐3oo7 can be applied to evaluate the patient's perceived vision‐related health status in routine evaluations of treatments in regular care, with a small burden for patients.

Highlights

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) summarize the patients’ perceived functional ability, health and well-being (Michelotti et al 2017)
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in ophthalmology are considered a valuable supplement to medical outcomes ineffectiveness evaluations in clinical trials and quality improvement at a population level (Somner et al 2012; Denniston et al 2014)
PROMs are helpful in making the quality of care more transparent to patients, the government and financing bodies such as insurers

Summary

Introduction

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) summarize the patients’ perceived functional ability, health and well-being (Michelotti et al 2017). PROMs can be valuable in the consultation room in regular care to routinely monitor the patient’s perspective, stimulating patient participation and shared clinical decision-making (Boyce et al 2014; Fung et al 2016). With such routine measurements, PROMs are helpful in making the quality of care more transparent to patients, the government and financing bodies such as insurers. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are valuable supplements in regular care to facilitate routine monitoring of quality of life from the patient’s perspective. The aim of this study is to construct a 7-item questionnaire of which only 3 items are presented to the patient, by means of routing This VFQ 3 out of 7 (VFQ-3oo7) should have a minimal loss of information compared with the NEI-VFQ-25. Conclusion: The very short, but valid, VFQ-3oo can be applied to evaluate the patient’s perceived vision-related health status in routine evaluations of treatments in regular care, with a small burden for patients

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