Vision-related quality of life after surgery for vitreoretinal disorders: an observational study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Visual-related quality of life is not always included as a variable of surgical success. However, some questionnaires such as the Visual Function Quality-25 in the Spanish version have proven their reliability and validity, but the quality of life in patients undergoing surgery has not been explored in the Mexican population; so, this study aims to identify it in patients with the most prevalent vitreoretinal diseases.Methods: The Visual Function Quality-25 questionnaire was applied to 76 patients with advanced diabetic retinopathy, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, and other causes of vitrectomy, pre-and postoperative. It was divided into 10-domains and interpreted according to the National Eye Institute scores, where the highest value was the best visual function. Student's t-test for related samples and Wilcoxon's t-test were used to compare each domain between measurements, and Pearson´s R test to correlate age and quality of life total score; a p-value <0.05 was considered significant.Results: Diabetic retinopathy patients showed an improvement after surgery in all domains, one and three months after surgery; the higher scores were in those who used air o gas as tamponade. In patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, there was an improvement in almost all the items from the first month, with a higher difference observed up to three months, while a decrease in ocular pain was observed in other causes of vitrectomy. Differences found in all the quality-of-life scores at one versus three months were not statistical, but clinically significant.Conclusions: The study shows that visual-related quality of life domains improve after vitrectomy, predominately in diabetic retinopathy subjects; inclusion of this analysis might be considered relevant within the parameters of surgical success of the most prevalent vitreoretinal diseases.