Psychometric properties of vision-related quality of life questionnaires: a systematic review

Abstract

The increased attention for quality of life (QOL) as an outcome measure has led to the development of numerous questionnaires to assess this construct in the field of ophthalmology. This article presents a systematic review on QOL questionnaires for people with vision impairments. We systematically searched and selected the literature. Furthermore, a rating list with descriptive aspects (e.g. target population) and psychometric aspects (e.g. reproducibility) was developed. The 31 questionnaires that were included in the review were rated on the basis of criteria stated in this rating list. The questionnaires were mostly targeted at cataract patients or visually impaired persons in general. Only a few of the questionnaires demonstrated sufficient psychometric quality. A recent development is the (re-)evaluation of questionnaires with Rasch analysis. This is one of the most important issues to which future research in this field should be directed.