Vision-related Quality of Life in Congolese Patients with Glaucoma

PURPOSE: To assess the vision-related quality of life (QoL) in Congolese patients with glaucoma and its associated factors. METHODS: Ninety-four patients with open-angle glaucoma and 42 age-matched controls were included in the study. QoL was evaluated using the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25). QoL scores were compared between patients and controls. Correlation analysis was run to assess the association of QoL scores with visual function measures. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify demographic and clinical factors that independently predict the overall QoL and its subdomains. RESULTS: The QoL composite score (QoL-CS) of glaucoma patients (60.2 ± 30.5) was 31.7% lower than that of controls (87.9 ± 9.5), p < 0.001. QoL subdomain scores were also significantly lower in glaucoma patients than controls (all p < 0.001), with a reduction rate oscillating between 16.5% for color vision and 61.1% for general health. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of both better seeing eye (BSE) and worst seeing eye (WSE) correlated significantly with QoL-CS (variance: 50.4% and 42.3%, respectively). The correlations of QoL-CS with BSE (variance: 12.9%) and WSE (variance: 16.8%) visual field MD were also significant, but the strengths were weaker than those of BCVA. Every increase of BSE's BCVA by one line improved QoL-CS by 43.4. CONCLUSION: Vision-related quality of life in glaucoma patients is significantly impaired in Congolese patients with glaucoma, starting in the early stage of the disease. BCVA of the BSE emerged as an independent significant predictor of overall QoL and most of its components. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Kapinga IK, Kayembe DL, Mwanza JC. Vision-related Quality of Life in Congolese Patients with Glaucoma. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2022;16(1):24-30.