Abstract
Purpose :
The visual impairment caused by the cataract also affects the functional capacity of the person, which can be assessed through questionnaires such as the visual function Index Vf -14. For this reason, we want to determinate the level of correlation between visual acuity and quality of life in the patients operated of cataract in Funcrisa, in Guayaquil, Ecuador during 2017.
Methods :
This was a cohort longitudinal prospective study. Patients older than 50 years old indicated to take cataract surgery were included and those with comorbidities such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma were excluded. The following variables were collected: age (in years), gender, occupation, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) pre and post-surgery in LogMAR, qualitive of life Index Vf -14 pre y post-surgery and visual disability according World Health Organization Criteria. Descriptive statistical analysis, paired t test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient were used when appropriate. The study was approved by the research department of the Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo and Funcrisa.
Results :
50 patients met the inclusion criteria and were evaluated pre and post cataract surgery, from which thirty females (60%) and 20 (40%) males, with mean age of 69 ± 9 years. It was also found that the most frequent occupations were the homemaker 22 patients (44%) and retirees 17 (34%). The BCVA pre-surgery was 1.23 ± 0.9 and post-surgery was 0.48 ± 0.41, p = < 0.001. The Vf -14 Index pre-surgery was 71± 27 and post-surgery was 89.61 ± 12.76, p = < 0.001. Correlation between BCVA and Vf-14 Index pre-surgery was r -0,4 (p = 0.003) and post-surgery was r -0.43 (p = 0.002). The post surgery Vf-14 Index in patients with normal vision was 94.09 ± 11.08, in moderate incapacity was 82.68 ± 12.16, in severe incapacity was 82.56 ± 13.15 and legal blindness was 76.67 ± 10.49 (p value= 0.003).
Conclusions :
In conclusion, the demographic characteristics found in the study are similar to other populations. There is a substantial improvement in both visual acuity and in the quality of life of patients after surgical intervention. The survey has demonstrated that patients with normal vision had around 18 points better quality of life than patients with visual incapacity or blindness.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.