Utility Index and Vision-related Quality of Life in Patients Awaiting Specialist Eye Care

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2024 Aug 12

PMID 39133678

Authors

Aline Lutz de Araujo

Bruna Stella Zanotto

Ana Paula Beck da Silva Etges

Karen Brasil Ruschel

Tais de Campos Moreira

Felipe Cezar Cabral

Erno Harzheim

Marcelo Rodrigues Goncalves

Roberto Nunes Umpierre

Fabiana Carvalho

Rodolfo Souza da Silva

Carisi Anne Polanczyk

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to ascertain utility and vision-related quality of life in patients awaiting access to specialist eye care. A secondary aim was to evaluate the association of utility indices with demographic profile and waiting time.

Methods: Consecutive patients that had been waiting for ophthalmology care answered the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25). The questionnaire was administered when patients arrived at the clinics for their first visit. We derived a utility index (VFQ-UI) from the patients' responses, then calculated the correlation between this index and waiting time and compared utility across demographic subgroups stratified by age, sex, and care setting.

Results: 536 individuals participated in the study (mean age 52.9±16.6 years; 370 women, 69% women). The median utility index was 0.85 (interquartile range [IQR] 0.70-0.92; minimum 0.40, maximum 0.97). The mean VFQ-25 score was 70.88±14.59. Utility correlated weakly and nonsignificantly with waiting time (-0.05, P = 0.24). It did not vary across age groups (P = 0.85) or care settings (P = 0.77). Utility was significantly lower for women (0.84, IQR 0.70-0.92) than men (0.87, IQR 0.73-0.93, P = 0.03), but the magnitude of this difference was small (Cohen's d = 0.13).

Conclusion: Patients awaiting access to ophthalmology care had a utility index of 0.85 on a scale of 0 to 1. This measurement was not previously reported in the literature. Utility measures can provide insight into patients' perspectives and support economic health analyses and inform health policies.

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