Quality of life and visual impairment from cataract in Satkhira district, Bangladesh

Aims: To evaluate a vision-related quality of life (QOL) scale (World Health Organization Prevention of Blindness and Deafness Visual Function 20-WHO/PBD VF20) and explore the impact of cataract visual impairment on vision-and health-related QOL in people > 50 years from Satkhira district, Bangladesh. Method: 217 cases visually impaired from cataract and 280 controls with normal vision were interviewed about vision- related QOL (WHO/PBD VF20), generic health-related QOL (EuroQol generic health instrument, EQ-5D) and socio-demographic information. The validity and reliability of the WHO/PBD VF20 were evaluated using standard psychometric tests and criteria. Results: Evidence for validity and reliability of the WHO/PBD VF20 was found. Worsening general functioning, psychosocial and overall eyesight scores were associated with increased visual loss (p for trend, 0.001). Cases were more likely to report problems with each EQ-5D descriptive domain and had poorer self- rated health than controls with normal vision (p<0.001). Conclusion: Demonstration of the validity and reliability of the WHO/PBD VF20 in this population supports its suitability as a tool for assessing vision-related QOL in low-income settings. The poorer health-related QOL in cases compared with controls suggests an impact of cataract visual impairment on perceived health and wellbeing, beyond vision-specific experience.