Quality of life among people with glaucoma: analysis according to the defect in the visual field

Abstract Objective: To analyze the quality of life among people with glaucoma according to the visual field defect. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, analytical study carried out in an ophthalmology unit, Glaucoma Project, in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Patients' quality of life was assessed using the National Eye Institute 25-Item Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25). The Mean Deviation (MD) parameter of the best eye was used to classify the visual field defects in mild, moderate and severe. Results: Four-hundred patients participated, 60.5% female. The participants' ages ranged from 19 to 80 years, the majority being over 60 (55.8%). The majority of patients presented a visual defect, regardless of whether they were referred by the public or private sector (p = 0.840). The mean quality of life score was 77.62 (± 18.007) points. The subdomain with worse mean was 'ocular pain' (53.06 ± 26.088) and with better mean was 'color vision' (94.13 ± 19.207). A negative linear correlation was observed between the quality of life scores and the visual field MD, both of the right (MD-OD) and left eye (MD-OE). Among the subdomains of quality of life, 'dependency' was the one that best explains the variation of the visual field defect and vice versa, with a determination factor equal to 7.2% for MD-OD and 8.4% for MD-OE. Conclusion: Visual field loss was related to poor quality of life among people with glaucoma. It is recommended to provide early diagnosis to favor treatment and delay in disease progression.