The association between vision quality of life and academics as measured by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development Quality of Life questionnaire

Abstract

Undetected visual problems are one of the causes of academic difficulties in the classroom. An easily administered screening device that identifies children who are likely to do poorly in school because of vision problems would be a valuable tool. The screening should be able to be performed by a classroom teacher or aide. The objective of this study was to determine if there was an association between vision-related quality-of-life factors (19-item College of Optometrists in Vision Development Quality of Life [COVD-QOL] questionnaire checklist) and academic performance. A secondary objective was to determine whether student and parent responses to the questionnaire would be similar. Ninety-one parents or guardians and their children, attending the third, fifth, and seventh grades in a public school participated in this study. Both the parent or guardian and student independently completed the checklist. The scores of both groups were compared with the Stanford IX test scores for total reading, total math, total spelling, and total battery scores of the Stanford IX. The parent or guardian and student scores were compared to evaluate the agreement (intergroup reliability). Parent or guardian and student checklist scores were compared. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank test showed that the mean scores for the parent or guardian were significantly lower than for third grade students and also for the total sample. Visual symptoms were found to be inversely correlated to academic performance; the lower the academic score, the more symptoms were reported. Symptoms reported by third grade students and their parents tended to be more highly correlated with academic scores. In general, symptoms reported by the parent were more highly correlated with academic score than the symptoms reported by the student. The COVD-QOL questionnaire is a cost-effective, quick, and easy tool that may be used in school screening to identify possible visual symptoms that are correlated to academic performance.