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Abstract #47840 Published in IGR 13-4
Qualitative grounding for a new patient assessment measure in ophthalmology: The functional assessment of visual tasks (vistas)
Atkinson MJ; Tally S; Heichel CW; Kozak IValue in Health 2011; 14: A508
OBJECTIVES: Patients' ability to perform vision-dependent tasks is essential to daily function and quality of life. Visual function measures do not typically assess both corrected and uncorrected function and lack an intermediate visual range scale. To address these limitations, the current qualitative study identifies the preliminary content and item pool for a future measure (Functional Assessment of Visual Tasks - VISTAS). METHODS: Ophthalmology patients (n=72) with mild to severe myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, astigmatism, cataracts and glaucoma participated in a variety of qualitative studies (life event journaling, interviews, on-line and face-to-face focus groups). The objective of these studies was to identify and thematically group meaningful visual tasks occurring in the near, intermediate and distance visual ranges. The journal entries and transcripts were thematically coded and organized into related domains of life function. RESULTS: Some task groupings were comprised of activities that occur predominantly within the distance visual range. These groupings included; mobility (ambulation), driving, leisure and sports, and social functioning. Some task groupings relied more heavily on the predominantly near and intermediate visual ranges. These groupings included; technology use and activities of daily living. Other task groupings were heterogeneous in terms of visual ranges required for their performance. CONCLUSIONS: Participants identified a wide variety of distance-specific visual tasks that impacted the quality of their lives. These included tasks related to their physical safety as well as to functioning at home and in the workplace. The thematic analysis provided a rich body of information with which to design items to assess important functional dimensions that are made more difficult by visual impairment. The measurement properties of this pool of candidate items were evaluated in clinical samples as a part of two larger psychometric validation studies.
M.J. Atkinson. University of California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, United States.
Classification:
1.4 Quality of life (Part of: 1 General aspects)