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Abstract #5575 Published in IGR 2-1
The life style of glaucoma patients
Ishii R; Kimura T; Fujita K; Kanai A; Inaba YJapanese Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology 2000; 54:89-94
The authors surveyed 80 glaucoma patients by questionnaire regarding their subjective quality of life. Their ages averaged 61.8 years. The duration of glaucoma averaged 10.1 years after the initial diagnosis. Each patient was asked about their background, health status, visual functions, mode of living, occupation and income, mode of medical treatment, and psychological state including acceptance. From the early stage on, they had difficulty in recognizing the steps of staircases or pedestrian walkways, recognizing familiar faces, or reading charts at railway stations. These difficulties increased with the advance in glaucoma. Patients with advanced glaucoma had difficulty in outdoor activities, driving, recognizing traffic signs, and using ATM bank machines. They also complained of decreased occupational workload, decreased income, and increased medical costs. Sixty percent of the cases were satisfied with the mode of treatment. The psychological quality of life, expressed as scores, decreased with the stage of glaucoma. Multiple variate analysis showed the score to be more correlated with the difficulty of carrying out outdoor activities, reading letters on a television display and reading railway station charts than the stage of glaucoma. LA: <#>
Dr. R. Ishii, Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 3-1-3 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8431, Japan
Classification:
1.4 Quality of life (Part of: 1 General aspects)