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Bilateral CNV ‘profoundly’ affects quality of life
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Subfoveal choroidal neovascularization as a result of age-related macular degeneration greatly impacts the vision-related quality of life, according to a study. The impact was heightened in patients with bilateral disease, the study authors found.
Li Ming Dong, PhD, and colleagues in the Submacular Surgery Trials Research Group analyzed data from 789 trial participants with age-related macular degeneration. Of the total participants, 454 were newly diagnosed with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and 335 had predominantly hemorrhagic CNV. Data were compiled from health-related quality of life interviews, which included the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ), the SF-36 Health Survey and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Health-related quality of life scores were correlated to visual acuity and bilateral disease through linear correlation and regression analyses.
Participants with bilateral disease averaged six points lower on the NEI-VFQ than those with unilateral subfoveal CNV and 10 points lower than those with unilateral predominantly hemorrhagic CNV. This was true even after adjusting for visual acuity of the stronger eye and other factors. Visual acuity of the stronger eye was not correlated with the health survey scores or the depression scale scores.
The study is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.