Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Apr;11(4):NC01-NC06.
doi: 10.7860/JCDR/2017/24496.9686. Epub 2017 Apr 1.

Quality of Life in People with Diabetic Retinopathy: Indian Study

Datson Marian Pereira  1 , Amish Shah  2 , May D'Souza  3 , Paul Simon  1 , Thomas George  4 , Nameeth D'Souza  5 , Sucharitha Suresh  6 , Manjeshwar Shrinath Baliga  7
Affiliations

Quality of Life in People with Diabetic Retinopathy: Indian Study

Datson Marian Pereira et al. J Clin Diagn Res. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a well-known consequence of long standing and poorly controlled Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Several studies have demonstrated both a qualitative and quantitative reduction in health related quality of life in persons with DR. But no such study has been done in the Indian population.

Aim: To assess health related and vision related quality of life in people with DR.

Materials and methods: The present study included two groups of patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Cases included 97 patients with DR. The control group (n=26) consisted of diabetic cases with no clinically detectable DR changes. After taking informed consent, health and vision related quality of life was assessed using National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25). Demographic information, social history and diabetic history were also obtained from all patients. DR was graded using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) classification.

Results: Of the 97 cases with DR, 42.3% were females. Of the 26 controls, 53.8% were females. The mean±SD age in years of the cases was 55.09±9.56 and controls were 54.12±13.01. The mean±SD of DM in years for the cases was 10.98±5.62 and for controls was 6.69±2.29. There were statistically significant (p<0.001) lower VFQ-25 composite and sub scale scores of the cases when compared with controls. As the grade of DR increased, VFQ-25 sub-scale scores decreased and this was statistically significant for composite and all sub scales (p<0.005) except ocular pain. Mann-Whitney test Z-value was highest in general health, general vision, composite score and mental health.

Conclusion: Quality of life was significantly lower in diabetics with DR when compared with those without DR with maximum effect seen on general health, general vision and mental health. Quality of life decreased as the duration of retinopathy and severity of retinopathy increased.

Keywords: Ophthalmology; Vision disorders; Visual function questionnaire.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Wild S, Roglic G, Green A, Sicree R, King H. Global prevalence of diabetes: estimates for the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes Care. 2004;27(5):1047–53. - PubMed
    1. Heriot WJ, Borger JP, Zimmet P, King H, Taylor R, Raper LR. Diabetic retinopathy in a natural population. Aust J Ophthalmol. 1983;11(3):175–79. - PubMed
    1. Sharma S, Oliver-Fernandez A, Liu W, Buchholz P, Walt J. The impact of diabetic retinopathy on health-related quality of life. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2005;16:155–59. - PubMed
    1. Howes SC, Caelli T, Mitchell P. Contrast sensitivity in diabetics with retinopathy and cataract. Aust J Ophthalmol. 1982;10(3):173–78. - PubMed
    1. Sokol S, Moskowitz A, Skarf B, Evans R, Molitch M, Senior B. Contrast sensitivity in diabetics with and without background retinopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1985;103(1):51–54. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources