Original articleUtility of the National Eye Institute VFQ-25 Questionnaire in a Heterogeneous Group of Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Section snippets
Methods
Patients with clinically definite MS (CDMS, as defined by the Poser criteria)9 visiting the MS clinic at St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, were invited to participate in the study during new or routine clinical encounters. The study was approved by the research ethics board of St Michael’s Hospital, and signed informed consent was obtained from all patients. Patients with a history of ocular disease not associated with MS (glaucoma, cataract, retinal disease) were excluded. Consenting
Results
In total, there were 34 participants in the study, 28 (82%) of whom were female. The mean age was 42 years (range, 22 to 63). The mean binocular visual acuity was logMAR 0.08 ± 0.21 (range −0.18 to 0.58); the mean log CS was 1.51 ± 0.16 logMAR units (range, 0.90 to 1.75 logMAR units); the mean 100-Hue score was 178 ± 112 (range, 34 to 740); and the average HVF mean deviation scores (MD) were −3.37 ± 3.3 (−13.9 to 0.47, see Table 1). Twenty-one participants (62%) had relapse remitting MS; 10
Discussion
In the present study of a clinically heterogeneous group of MS patients, including patients on and off DMDT and those with and without previous ON, the VFQ-25 correlated significantly with a variety of clinically relevant parameters including ETDRS VA, Pelli-Robson CS, HVF, and Farnsworth-Munsell 100-(100-Hue).
The findings of the current study suggest that impairments of the tested visual parameters can predict impaired HRQOL in MS patients and, conversely, that reduced VFQ-25 scores are
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Supported by the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.