Abstract
BackgroundThis study aimed to evaluate and compare the utility values associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a sample of Chinese patients and ophthalmologists.MethodsUtility values were evaluated by both the time trade-off (TTO) and rating scale (RS) methods for 109 eligible patients with DR and 2 experienced ophthalmologists. Patients were stratified by Snellen best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in the better-seeing eye. The correlations between the utility values and general vision-related health status measures were analyzed. These utility values were compared with data from two other studies.ResultsThe mean utility values elicited from the patients themselves with the TTO (0.81; SD 0.10) and RS (0.81; SD 0.11) methods were both statistically lower than the mean utility values assessed by ophthalmologists. Significant predictors of patients’ TTO and RS utility values were both LogMAR BCVA in the affected eye and average weighted LogMAR BCVA. DR grade and duration of visual dysfunction were also variables that significantly predicted patients’ TTO utility values. For ophthalmologists, patients’ LogMAR BCVA in the affected eye and in the better eye were the variables that significantly predicted both the TTO and RS utility values. Patients’ education level was also a variable that significantly predicted RS utility values. Moreover, both diabetic macular edema and employment status were significant predictors of TTO and RS utility values, whether from patients or ophthalmologists. There was no difference in mean TTO utility values compared to our American and Canadian patients.ConclusionsDR caused a substantial decrease in Chinese patients’ utility values, and ophthalmologists substantially underestimated its effect on patient quality of life.
Highlights
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the major cause of acquired vision loss and is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes [1]
This study aimed to evaluate and compare the utility values associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a sample of Chinese patients and ophthalmologists
The mean utility values elicited from the patients themselves with the time trade-off (TTO) (0.81; SD 0.10) and rating scale (RS) (0.81; SD 0.11) methods were both statistically lower than the mean utility values assessed by ophthalmologists
Summary
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the major cause of acquired vision loss and is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes [1]. With rapid lifestyle changes occurring in China, the estimated prevalence of diabetes has increased to 11.6% among Chinese adults [2], with at least 20% of diabetic patients suffering from DR [3,4,5]. Outcome analyses of the questionnaires showed that the QoL of DR patients was significantly lower than that of healthy individuals. These questionnaires have shortcomings, including a limited number of questions and the incomplete assessment of DR patients’ QoL, their subjective desires and perceptions. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the utility values associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a sample of Chinese patients and ophthalmologists. Editor: Chen-Wei Pan, Medical College of Soochow University, CHINA
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