Assessment of quality of life of patients which visual impairment and a diagnosis of cataract

Abstract

: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness, reducing economic productivity further leading to reduced quality of life (QOL). Various studies done around the globe have demonstrated that cataract and its diagnosis have been associated with poor quality of life and increased mortality. A thorough literature search showed limited study to assess the quality of life in patients with cataract in India. Hence, we designed this study to assess the quality of life of patients which visual impairment and a diagnosis of cataract.This cross-sectional study was conducted in patients diagnosed with cataract with visual impairment visiting the tertiary care center. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee and patients were recruited after they gave written informed consent. The participants were divided into two groups, Group 1 consisted of male patient whereas Group 2 consisted of female patients. The participant was assessed for visual functioning (VF) and Quality of Life.: The results of our study have demonstrated that out of total 84 participants recruited in the study, majority of them were female (n=50) and both groups were comparable at the time of presentation. All patients had a significant visual impairment at the time of presentation with 22 male participants and 33 female participants had grade III or more visual impairment. All patients had compromised quality of life as evident by the responses obtained from the participants on the visual functional score and quality of life scores. There was also a statistically (p<0.05) higher number of female participants as compared to male participants who had quite a lot of problems of noticing of objects off to side, had to make adjustment to darkness after being in bright light, problem in locating things when it was surrounded by lot of other things.All patients had compromised quality of life as evident by the responses obtained from the participants on the visual functional score and quality of life scores. Though participants in both groups with grade III onwards had higher visual functional scores and quality of life scores.