Quality of life may decline faster after development of geographic atrophy subtypes
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Key takeaways:
- Patients who developed certain GA subtypes experienced a faster decline in quality of life.
- Additional research is needed on the relationship between GA subtypes and quality of life.
SEATTLE — Patients who develop certain subtypes of geographic atrophy may be at risk for a decline in health-related quality of life, according to research presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
“In our study of participants in the AREDS (Age-Related Eye Disease Study) clinical trial who developed GA during the AREDS, we found that health-related quality of life measures declined faster in the period after GA developed compared with the period before GA developed,” Susan Vitale, PhD, MHS, research epidemiologist in the division of epidemiology and clinical applications at the National Eye Institute, told Healio. “This was true even after adjusting for the effects of aging.”
Vitale and colleagues identified 358 eyes of 298 participants who developed geographic atrophy (GA) and had data available from the NEI VFQ-25, which measured health-related quality of life (QOL).
Patient scores on visual functioning and a composite score on vision-related QOL declined more quickly after development of non-central GA and any GA. There were no significant differences in QOL before and after development of central GA. However, this may be attributed to a smaller sample size and limited power.
The findings stress the importance of additional research on the relationship between subtypes of GA and QOL decline.
Vitale said that while the study did not address ways to improve QOL, “having clinicians be aware of the potential for faster decline after GA develops may encourage them to ask patients about their quality of life and to refer patients for support for issues such as mobility, activities of daily living and other issues related to quality of life.”
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Vitale S, et al. Changes in health-related quality of life before and after development of geographic atrophy in AREDS participants. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting; May 5-9, 2024; Seattle.
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