Abstract
Purpose:
To develop a quality of life questionnaire appropriate for elderly low vision patients in less developed areas of China.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional survey study and was conducted in Wenzhou Medical University Affiliated Eye Hospital. In the initial development of the questionnaire, we identified visual function concerns of low-vision patients who were ≥60 years old, poorly educated, and lived in the rural Wenzhou area. We then designed an empirical assessment of the questionnaire. Each individual visual function concern was then transformed into a question and put into a five-category Likert rating scale Then questionnaire interviews were conducted on 188 low vision patients and 63 normal controls for item reduction and evaluation of psychometric properties.
Results:
We identified 24 concerns that older adults with serious vision loss thought most affected their daily lives. The initial item list of the Elderly Low Vision Quality of Life (ELVQoL) questionnaire consisted of 28 items, including the 24 identified concerns and 4 additional ones about general vision. Psychometric item reduction removed 11 items and a 17-item questionnaire was generated. Assessment showed that the resulting questionnaire had acceptable internal consistency, reliability, and validity (Cronbach’s α >0.9, mean item-total correlations >0.6, test-retest reliability >0.9, concurrent validity range from 0.6 to 0.9). Low education level, full range working distance, and retinal diseases were all predictors of reduced visually-related QoL.
Conclusions:
A patient-derived ELVQoL questionnaire was developed specifically for elderly, uneducated, rural Chinese. All the psychometric properties met accepted levels for a sound QoL questionnaire.
Keywords: 584 low vision •
669 quality of life