Quality of Life for Patients with Senile Cataracts

Introduction: The aim was to measure the life quality of patients with senile cataract and cross-cultural adaptation of the NEI-VFQ-25 scale. Methods: The survey included patients with senile cataract, aged 65 years and older. Recruitment of participants was performed from the preoperative consultation of the day hospital at the adult ophthalmology department as well as from the postoperative control consultation. Investigation sheets containing socio-demographic, clinical data and the Moroccan version of the NEI VFQ25 quality of life questionnaire; were handed out to each patient. The internal reliability of the NEI VFQ-25 scale was assessed by the Cronbach alpha coefficient. The comparison of the scores was carried out using the Student's test. The association of the scores with the visual acuity was studied using the correlation coefficients. Results: A total of 1000 patients were enrolled including 50% men with a mean age of 72.17 (SD = 5.8310). Half of the patients had unilateral cataract and 32% underwent surgery. Most of patients had visual acuity less than 1/10 even after correction while the mean visual acuity after cataract surgery with correction was 8,6 with a standard deviation of 1,5. The internal coherence of the global scale was very satisfactory (alpha coefficient = 0.86). This coefficient varied from 0.77 to 0.96 for the subscales. The mean VFQ25 score was better in the operated patients (p = 0.029). Conclusion: The senile cataract had a genuine impact on the life quality of our patients while the surgical management allowed to improve the overall scores and a large number of dimensions.