Visual impairment and quality of life, a cross- sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/rztz3s68Keywords:
Visual impairment, blindness, quality of life, cross-sectional study.Abstract
Objective: Visual impairment and blindness has been a problem for social behavior and public health in the developing countries. Data regarding the influence of visual impairment and blindness in Albania are missing. The aim of our study is to investigate the influence of visual impairment and blindness in quality of their life in Albania. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, conduced in Albania from September 2019 till December 2019. All the patients with eye disease and visual loss were included in this study. The patients have self-completed a questionnaire organized in 3 parts with 18 questions. Gender, age, socio- economic data, eye diseases, level of stress, anxiety and depression were collected in this study and analyzed with SPSS. Results: 871 questionnaires were included in this study according to the criteria. The mean age of the participants in this study was 47.4 years (with a rage from 7 years to 78 years). 40.5% of the participant reported to have anterior segment and refractive disorders followed by diabetic retinopathy and other vascular disorders in 14.3%. 61.3% responded that the quality of vision was with mild visual impairment. Most of the participant reported mild level of anxiety (34%) and depression (30%) and 31% sever stress. Conclusion: the results of our study indicate that visual impairment and blindness have a mild to moderate influence in quality of life and we recommend the start of a rehabilitation program for patients with blindness and visual impairment.
Downloads
References
1. Abner, G. H., Lahm, E. A., Islam, J., Mario, S. P., Mary, F., Siu, D. A. Y., … UNESCO. (2002). Global Data on Visual Impairments 2010. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2013.05.025 2377
2. Barrett, B. T. (2009). A critical evaluation of the evidence supporting the practice of behavioural vision therapy. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-1313.2008.00607.x
3. Burnette, D., Duci, V., & Dhembo, E. (2017). Psychological distress, social support, and quality of life among cancer caregivers in Albania. Psycho-Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.4081
4. Frick, K. D., Gower, E. W., Kempen, J. H., & Wolff, J. L. (2007). Economic impact of visual impairment and blindness in the United States. Archives of Ophthalmology. https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.125.4.544
5. Li, Y., Crews, J. E., Elam-Evans, L. D., Fan, A. Z., Zhang, X., Elliott, A. F., & Balluz, L. (2011). Visual impairment and health-related quality of life among elderly adults with age-related eye diseases. Quality
of Life Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9825-z
6. Lord, S. R. (2006). Visual risk factors for falls in older people. In Age and Ageing. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afl085
7. Nyman, S. R., Gosney, M. A., & Victor, C. R. (2010). Psychosocial impact of visual impairment in working-age adults. British Journal of Ophthalmology. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.2009.164814
8. Organization, world health. (2014). WHO | Visual impairment and blindness.
9. Rapaport, M. H., Clary, C., Fayyad, R., & Endicott, J. (2005). Quality-of-life impairment in depressive and anxiety disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.6.1171
10. Sabel, B. A., Wang, J., Cárdenas-Morales, L., Faiq, M., & Heim, C. (2018). Mental stress as consequence and cause of vision loss: the dawn of psychosomatic ophthalmology for preventive and personalized medicine. EPMA Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13167-018-0136-8
11. Stafford, M., Soljak, M., Pledge, V., & Mindell, J. (2012). Socio-economic differences in the health- related quality of life impact of cardiovascular conditions. European Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckr007
12. Tóthová, V., Bártlová, S., Dolák, F., Kaas, J., Kimmer, D., Maňhalová, J., … Olišarová, V. (2014). Quality of life in patients with chronic diseases. Neuroendocrinology Letters.
13. Xhaja, A., Shkodrani, E., Frangaj, S., Kuneshka, L., & Vasili, E. (2014). An Epidemiological Study on Trigger Factors and Quality of Life in Psoriatic Patients. Materia Socio Medica. https://doi.org/10.5455/msm.2014.26.168-171
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
