Amblyopia And Quality Of Life

ABSTRACT

Introduction:Quality of Life is an important outcome measure in healthcare.Till today the Quality of Life of Indian amblyopic patient remains poorly understood, as there is no published study discussing them.Method:A prospective cross sectional design of 91 amblyopic subjectsbetween ages3 to 12 years were conducted.Age and gender matched subjectwithout any ocular pathologywere taken as controls.The subjects underwent detailed clinical evaluation. Amblyopia and Strabismus Questionnaire was translated to Gujarati language and psychometric properties were analysed. The subjects completed the validated Gujarati questionnaire.The differences in Quality of Life among amblyopes and controls were examined, according to age, gender andclinical features.Result:Amblyopia and Strabismus Questionnaire had an average content validity index was 0.86. The cronbach’s alpha coefficient for internal consistent reliability was 0.733.The correlation coefficient analysis examining the test retest reliability was 0.914. The mean total score ofAmblyopia and Strabismus Questionnairewas 82.84 +18.44. The mean score for amblyopic subjects were significantly lower (82.84 vs 97.69; p<0.05) than controls.There were no statistical significant differences in the total score and individual domains in respect of age and gender. Amblyopic patients with strabismus scored lower in the scale of social contact and appearance in comparison to the non strabismic amblyopes(p<0.05).Conclusion:The revised Gujarati version of the Amblyopia and Strabismus Questionnaireappears to be a valid and reliable questionnaire in clinical setting for Indian culture for Gujarati population. The amblyopes have a poorer Quality of Life.