Individual, family, and environmental determinants of vision-related quality of life of children and young people with visual impairment

Šemrov, Ana (author), Tadić, Valerija (author), Cortina-Borja, Mario (author), Rahi, Jugnoo Sangeeta (author)

Childhood visual impairment can have a significant impact on an individual’s development. To improve clinical care and develop appropriate psychosocial interventions of these patients, it is necessary to understand the contributing and modifiable factors that both identify individuals in greater need and could be targeted in interventions. Here we investigate the broader individual, family, and environmental factors associated with vision-related quality of life (VQoL) of children and young people with visual impairment (CYP-VI). Data for this cross-sectional study were collected from September 2014 to May 2017 to develop and validate two vision-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for CYP-VI. Patients were recruited from 22 hospitals in the United Kingdom and were aged 7–18 years with visual impairment as per WHO criteria. Participants self-completed the two PROMs, VQoL and Functional Vision Questionnaires. Clinical characteristics were extracted from medical records. Their carers provided information on family sociodemographic backgrounds. Associations between the VQoL scores and other factors were examined using Spearman’s correlation, Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, and quantile regression models. The sample consisted of 152 CYP-VI (67 females). Better VQoL was significantly associated with better functional vision overall (rSpearman = –0.52), parent-reported absence of additional chronic conditions (dCohen = 0.46), attending mainstream (versus other) school (dCohen = 0.44), higher socio-economic status (rSpearman = 0.17) and higher parental education level (rSpearman = 0.20). No other investigated factors were significantly associated with VQoL. The final quantile regression model included functional vision scores and the presence of additional health condition. Variation in self-reported VQoL in CYP-VI can be partly accounted for by factors relating to the clinical status of the affected child and, more importantly, by non-health-related factors. This needs to be considered in clinical practice when assessing vision-specific outcomes and providing support to CYP-VI, as well as in the development of future interventions.

• Language: English
• Keywords: vision disorders, blindness, quality of life, children, adolescents, Vision-related quality of life questionnaire for children and young people VQoL_CYP, Functional vision questionnaire for children and young people FVQ_CYP
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 16.11.2023
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 14 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 18, iss. 11, art. e0294532
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-154961
• UDC: 159.9:617.751.9-053.5/.6
• ISSN on article: 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294532
• COBISS.SI-ID: 188209411
• Publication date in RUL: 12.03.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: PloS One
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2005896

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: motnje vida, slabovidnost, slepota, kakovost življenja, otroci, mladostniki