Impact of initial topical medical therapy on short‑term quality of life in newly diagnosed patients with primary glaucoma.
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Date
2015-06
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Abstract
Purpose: To evaluate the impact of initial topical medical therapy on newly diagnosed glaucoma patients
using the Indian Vision Function Questionnaire (IND-VFQ33). Patients and Methods: The IND-VFQ33 was
used to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in 62 newly diagnosed patients with moderate to severe primary
glaucoma and 60 healthy controls. IND-VFQ33 is a 33 item QoL assessment tool with three domains:
General functioning, psychosocial impact and visual symptoms. The glaucoma patients were started on
medical therapy and the QoL assessment was repeated after 3 months. Results: Glaucoma patients (mean
age: 55.6 ± 9.6 years, range 40–77 years) and controls (mean age: 54.9 ± 6.7 years, 42–73 years) were matched
with respect to age (P = 0.72), gender (P = 0.91) and literacy (P = 0.18). Glaucoma patients had significantly
worse QoL as compared to controls at baseline across all the three domains (P < 0.001). 3 months after
initiation of treatment, the overall QoL life significantly worsened from baseline with a decrease in
general functioning (P < 0.001) and psychosocial impact (P = 0.041). Visual acuity in better eye significantly
co-related to poor QoL at baseline (P < 0.001) and at 3 months (P = 0.04). In addition, the use of >2 topical
medications significantly co-related to poor QoL at 3 months (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Evaluation using the
IND-VFQ33 revealed that newly diagnosed glaucoma patients have a significant worsening of QoL after
initiation of topical ocular hypotensive therapy. This should be an important consideration when educating
patients about the disease and its therapy.
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Keywords
Indian Vision Function Questionnaire, primary glaucoma, quality of life
Citation
Arora Vishal, Bali Shveta Jindal, Gupta Sanjeev Kumar, Vashisht Praveen, Agarwal Tushar, Sreenivas Vishnubhatla, Dada Tanuj. Impact of initial topical medical therapy on short‑term quality of life in newly diagnosed patients with primary glaucoma. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2015 June; 63(6): 511-515.