Ezenwa AC and Nwosu SNN
Objective: To evaluate the quality of life of newly diagnosed Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) patients at Guinness Eye Centre, Onitsha. Materials and method: The quality of life amongst newly diagnosed POAG patient’s aged ≥ 40 years was assessed with the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (NEI VFQ-25) questionnaire. Also obtained was information on the patients’ sociodemographic characteristics. Result: A total of 207 new POAG patients, aged 40 to 92 years (mean age of 61.0) responded. There were 95 males (45.9%) with 100 (48.3%) less than 60 years of age. These patients had a mean quality of life score of 66.6 ± 27.1SD; and general vision had the least subscale score (40.6 ± 23.4SD) while ocular pain subscale had the highest score (84.2 ± 20.6SD). The mean quality of life score for males and females were 63.5 ± 29.3SD and 69.2 ± 25.0SD respectively; while the mean quality of life scores for age group < 60 years and ≥ 60 years were 73.0 ±26.5 and 60.6 ± 30.0SD respectively. Conclusion: There was no difference in quality of life scores among gender (p=0.1). However quality of life scores were lower in patients ≥ 60 years (p=0.001), rural dwellers (p=0.002), dependents (p=0.001) and those with non-formal education (p=0.001). Patients in this study report a moderate quality of life score. Likely factors that may be responsible for reduction in quality of life should be explored in this group.
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