Abstract
We investigated the vision-related quality of life (VR-QOL) in patients with HLA-B27 associated anterior uveitis (AU). The study was conducted in 2012 at the ophthalmology department of the University Medical Center of Groningen. We included AU patients who were HLA-B27 positive and/or were diagnosed by a rheumatologist with an HLA-B27 associated systemic disease. Sixty-one of 123 (50%) adult patients participated. All patients filled-out the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), social support lists and an additional questionnaire for gathering general information. Medical records were reviewed for clinical characteristics. Analyses were conducted on various patient and ocular characteristics. We compared our NEI VFQ-25 scores with those previously found in the literature. Our main outcome measures were VR-QOL scores and their associations with various general patient and ocular characteristics. We found that the NEI VFQ-25 mean overall composite score was 88.9±8.8, which is relatively high, but lower than that found in a normal working population. The mean general health score was 47.4±20.8, which is lower than in patients with other ocular diseases. Patients with a systemic disease scored significantly lower on general health and VR-QOL, compared to patients without a systemic disease. Patients with a depression (6/59 (10%)) frequently had ankylosing spondylitis (5/6 patients) and they scored significantly worse on VR-QOL. We concluded that patients with HLA-B27 associated AU have a relatively high VR-QOL. However, the presence of a systemic disease is associated with lower VR-QOL and general health scores. In addition, depression is associated with a lower VR-QOL.
Highlights
Anterior uveitis (AU) is the most common form of uveitis and it is commonly associated with HLA-B27 associated diseases, such as ankylosing spondilitis, Crohn’s disease, reactive arthritis and psoriasis
We found that vision-related quality of life (VR-QOL) is only mildly reduced in herpetic AU.[7]
Forty-three (73%) patients were tested for HLA-B27 positivity and tested positive (100%), sixteen (27%) patients were not tested for HLA-B27, but were diagnosed with an HLA-B27 associated systemic disease by a rheumatologist
Summary
Anterior uveitis (AU) is the most common form of uveitis and it is commonly associated with HLA-B27 associated diseases, such as ankylosing spondilitis, Crohn’s disease, reactive arthritis and psoriasis. HLA-B27 positivity without apparent systemic disease may be associated with AU.[1] This type of uveitis is often recurrent and it can occur uni- or bilaterally. Quality of Life in HLA-B27 Associated AU. Complications like high intraocular pressure, glaucoma, cataract, posterior synechiae and dry eyes are seen in HLA-B27 associated AU.[2] The visual acuity (VA) can decrease temporarily or permanently because of recurrent inflammation and complications of AU. All these characteristics can affect a patient’s quality of life
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