Vision-related quality of life in children with retinopathy of prematurity

The Children's Visual Function Questionnaire (CVFQ), an instrument that evaluates vision-related quality of life in children, was used. It is divided into 6 subscales: General Health, Vision Health, Competence, Personality, Family Impact, and Treatment. The sample consisted of parents of premature children up to 3 years of age who had ROP and no neurological damage (ROP group) and parents of premature children up to 3 years of age who had normal vision and absence of other diseases (control group).

Results:

There were 88 subjects in total, 43 in the ROP group and 45 in the control group. The ROP group had lower scores on the CVFQ than the control group. The Total Index and all CVFQ subscale scores and for were significant lower in the ROP group than in the control group. The ROP group was divided according to the severity of the disease. The Total Index, Vision Health, and Competence scores in children with more severe ROP were significantly lower than those in children with less severe ROP.

Conclusion:

ROP was shown to have a negative effect on vision-related quality of life in children.

Keywords:
Retinopathy of prematurity; Psychology; Quality of life; Child; Low vision

		N	Mean	Median	SD	Min-max
Child age (months)	ROP	43	8.9	7.0	7.3	1-33
	Control	45	12.7	14.0	7.7	1-25
	Total	88	10.9	8.0	7.7	1-33
Birth weight (grams)	ROP	43	1050.7	950.0	380.0	505-2450
	Control	43	1495.7	1480.0	606.8	625-3500
	Total	86	1273.2	1215.0	550.8	505-3500
Gestational age (weeks)	ROP	43	27.7	28.0	2.6	23-33
	Control	45	30.7	31.0	3.4	22-36
	Total	88	29.2	29.0	3.4	22-36

		ROP		Control		Total
		N	%	N	%	N	%
Parents/caregivers age	Below 21 years	5	11.6	6	13.3	11	12.5
	21-30 years	21	48.8	14	31.1	35	39.8
	31-40 years	16	37.2	21	46.7	37	42.0
	41-50 years	1	2.3	3	6.7	4	4.5
	Above 50 years	0	0.0	1	2.2	1	1.1
	Total	43	100.0	45	100.0	88	100.0
Parent marital status	Single	10	23.3	5	11.1	15	17.0
	Married	31	72.1	38	84.4	69	078.4
	Divorced	1	2.3	1	2.2	2	2.3
	Widower	1	2.3	1	2.2	2	2.3
	Total	43	100.0	45	100.0	88	100.0
Parents education	Unconclued school	4	9.3	4	8.9	8	9.1
	Concluded school	6	14.0	1	2.2	7	8.0
	Unconcluded high school	6	14.0	7	15.6	13	14.8
	Concluded high school	18	41.9	14	31.1	32	36.4
	Incomplete university	6	14.0	5	11.1	11	12.5
	Complete university	3	7.0	8	17.8	11	12.5
	Post-graduation	0	0.0	6	13.3	6	6.8
	Total	43	100.0	45	100.0	88	100.0

Model	Coefficient	Standard error	p
Constant	0.313	0.052	<0.001
Parental education	0.075	0.025	0.003
Gestational age	-0.013	0.024	0.593
Child's age	0.002	0.001	0.145
Multiple pregnancy	0.037	0.026	0.158
Group	0.160	0.026	<0.001

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[1] Corresponding author: Alcione A. Messa. Rua Botucatu, 821 - São Paulo, SP - 04023-062 - Brazil - E-mail: alcioneam@hotmail.com