Abstract
Purpose :
The Pediatric Eye Questionnaire (PedEyeQ) assesses eye-related quality of life (ER-QOL) and functional vision in children with any eye condition. Previous studies have compared mean scores in clinical and control populations, but not whether it is meaningful to apply normal thresholds to identify individuals with reduced ER-QOL and functional vision. We evaluated PedEyeQ scores in children with bilateral visual impairment (VI).
Methods :
48 children (22, 0-4 years, 18, 5-11 years and 8, 12-17 years) with bilateral VI (best-eye acuity worse than 20/70) and 310 visually normal controls (104, 0-4 years, 104, 5-11 years and 102, 12-17 years) were prospectively enrolled. Children aged 5-17 years completed the Child PedEyeQ (Functional Vision, Bothered by Eyes/vision, Social, and Frustration/worry domains). Parents completed Proxy PedEyeQ (0-4 years: Functional Vision, Bothered by Eyes/Vision, Social; 5-17 years: same domains plus Frustration/Worry and Eye Care) and Parent PedEyeQ (Impact on Parent and Family, Worry about Child’s Eye Condition, Worry about Child’s Self-perception/Interactions, Worry about Child’s Functional Vision). PedEyeQ domains were Rasch-scored and converted to 0-100. The 5th percentile of scores in the normal cohort defined the “reduced” threshold for each domain in each age group. Proportions with reduced scores were calculated.
Results :
Proportions of VI subjects with reduced Child scores ranged from 78% (Functional Vision) to 39% (Frustration/worry) for 5-11 years and from 100% (Functional vision, Frustration/worry) to 88% (Bothered by Eyes/vision, Social) for 12-17 years. Proportions with reduced Proxy scores ranged from 100% (Functional Vision, Bothered by Eyes/Vision) to 55% (Social) for 0-4 years, 94% (Functional Vision) to 61% (Frustration/Worry, Eye Care) for 5-11 years, and 100% (all except Frustration/Worry) to 88% for 12-17 years. Proportions with reduced Parent scores were 95% or 100% for 0-4 years and 83% to 100% for 5-11 years; all domain scores (100%) were reduced for 12-17 years.
Conclusions :
A high proportion of visually impaired children and their parents have reduced PedEyeQ domain scores, supporting the application of a normal threshold to identify individuals with reduced ER-QOL and functional vision. Nevertheless, variability of scores by self-report in young children may create challenges for interpreting domain scores in 5- to 11-year-olds.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.