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Br J Ophthalmol 2009;93:310-315 doi:10.1136/bjo.2008.139592
  • Clinical science
    • Original Article

The effect of personality on measures of quality of life related to vision in glaucoma patients

  1. K J Warrian1,
  2. G L Spaeth2,
  3. D Lankaranian1,
  4. J F Lopes1,
  5. W C Steinmann3
  1. 1
    Glaucoma Research Center, William and Anna Goldberg Glaucoma Service, Wills Eye Institute/Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  2. 2
    Department of Ophthalmology, Jefferson Medical College, William and Anna Goldberg Glaucoma Service, Wills Eye Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  3. 3
    Department of Internal Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri, USA
  1. Dr K J Warrian, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Western Ontario, Ivey Eye Institute, 268 Grosvenor Street, London ON N6A 4V2, Canada; kevinjwarrian{at}gmail.com
  • Accepted 31 October 2008
  • Published Online First 21 November 2008

Abstract

Aim: To determine the effect of personality on vision-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: Based on power calculations, 148 individuals diagnosed as having glaucoma or ocular hypertension, without ocular comorbidity, were selected using criteria that included age over 30, no recent or upcoming surgery, the absence of a diagnosis of clinical depression or any other psychiatric illness. Qualifying participants completed the 25-Item National Eye Institute’s Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ), the Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R) and the 15-Item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and provided information regarding their demographic characteristics and past medical history. Each patient also underwent an ocular examination. Data analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between NEO PI-R personality profiles and VFQ scoring, while controlling for the effects of a range of demographic, psychiatric, past medical and clinical ophthalmic variables.

Results: Multivariate analysis indicated that after controlling for a range of covariates, three out of five NEO PI-R personality domains shared statistically significant associations with a variety of VFQ total and subscale score measurements.

Conclusion: Normal variations in personality characteristics influence how patients report their vision-specific HRQoL.

Footnotes

  • Funding: Wills Eye Institute’s Glaucoma Service Foundation to Prevent Blindness.

  • Competing interests: None.

  • Ethics approval: Ethics approval was provided by Wills Eye Institute’s Institutional Review Board.

  • Patient consent: Obtained.

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