Affiliations: Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester, UK
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Dr. Claire V. Hutchinson, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester, UK. E-mail: ch190@le.ac.uk.
Abstract: Background:Despite experimental evidence for concurrent dementia and visual impairment, there are no currently validated vision-related quality of life measures for use in this population. Objective:To establish the extent to which individuals with mild to moderate dementia self-report visual impairment and determine the efficacy of established vision-related quality of life measures for use in a dementia population. Methods:We compared vision-related quality of life in participants with mild-moderate dementia to healthy (dementia-free) older adults using two existing questionnaire measures already validated for use in older adults. These were the Visual Activities Questionnaire (VAQ) and the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25). Results:Responses on both the VAQ and VFQ-25 revealed a significant effect of dementia on self-reported vision-related quality of life. Visual impairment in dementia was identified in the domains of color discrimination, disability glare, light/dark adaption, acuity/spatial vision, depth perception, peripheral vision, visual search, and visual processing speed. Factor analysis of the data suggested that existing vision-related quality of life measures, designed for use in older adult populations, are likely to provide a robust means of assessing vision-related quality of life in older adults with dementia. This is particularly true of the VAQ, for which one latent factor emerged for both dementia and dementia-free samples. Conclusion:Using existing measures designed for use in older adult populations, we have shown that people with dementia experience reduced vision-related quality of life.
Keywords: Dementia, visual activities scale (VAQ), visual function questionnaire (VFQ-25), visual impairment, vision-related quality of life
