Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Cover Image for Volume 60, Issue 9
July 2019
Volume 60, Issue 9
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   July 2019
Quality of life in pediatric vision impairment: use of the PedsQL
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Dawn K DeCarlo
    Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Elizabeth Forte
    Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Liyan Gao
    Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Gerald McGwin
    Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Cynthia Owsley
    Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Dawn DeCarlo, None; Elizabeth Forte, None; Liyan Gao, None; Gerald McGwin, None; Cynthia Owsley, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  NIH/NEI K23EY018864; Research to Prevent Blindness; EyeSight Foundation of AlabamA
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science July 2019, Vol.60, 4965. doi:
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      Dawn K DeCarlo, Elizabeth Forte, Liyan Gao, Gerald McGwin, Cynthia Owsley; Quality of life in pediatric vision impairment: use of the PedsQL. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2019;60(9):4965.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : The PedsQL 4.0 is a generic health related quality of life instrument that has been used to assess quality of life across many pediatric health conditions. Previously we conducted focus groups which showed that the PedsQL 4.0 covered most of the domains important to children with vision impairment (VI) and their parents. We hypothesized that this instrument could distinguish between children with VI and normally sighted children.

Methods : 73 children with VI aged 8 to 18 and 44 age matched controls provided demographic information and underwent vision testing including binocular best corrected distance visual acuity using the EVA tester. The PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scale Child Report (ages 8-12) and Teen Report (ages 13-18) was interviewer administered. Parents completed Parent Proxy Report individually in a room separate from their child. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, intra-class correlations and t-tests. Cronbach’s Alpha was determined for subscales.

Results : Mean age of participants was 12.5±3.4 years (VI) and 12.7±3.1 years (control). Both groups were similar with regard to race and gender. Most parent informants were female. PedsQL subscales did not show any floor effects in this population, however some scales did have ceiling effects of up to 29% in certain groups. Cronbach’s Alpha was excellent (≥0.9) for all subscales for both parent and child report. Scale scores are found in the table. For children, scores were significantly different between those with and without VI for the School Functioning Scale (p=0.02) and Total Score (p=0.03). For teens, significant differences were found for Physical Functioning (p=0.003), Social Functioning (p=0.02), School Functioning (p=0.04) and Total Score (p=0.005). Parent report for children 8 to 12 was significantly different for those with and without VI for Social Functioning, School Functioning and Total Score (p<0.01.). Parent report for teens was significantly different across all scales (p<0.001). Parent and child reports correlated poorly (ICC<0.5), showing the importance of obtaining both perspectives.

Conclusions : The PedsQL 4.0 is a valuable instrument that can be used to assess health related quality of life among children and teens with low vision. It shows adequate internal consistency reliability as well as discriminative validity.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.

 

PedsQL scale scores for children with and without vision impairment (VI)

PedsQL scale scores for children with and without vision impairment (VI)

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