Visual Acuity Significantly Correlated With Quality of Life in Noninfectious Uveitis Treatment

Health and vision quality of life (QoL) are significantly correlated with visual acuity in patients with noninfectious uveitis treated with antimetabolites, according to results presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology 2021 annual meeting, held in New Orleans from November 12-15.

The study consisted of 192 patients with noninfectious uveitis enrolled in the First-line Antimetabolites as Steroid-sparing Treatment (FAST) Uveitis Trial in which participants were randomly assigned to receive oral methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil. In this subanalysis of the clinical trial, researchers sought to determine if there was an association between QoL and visual acuity, to provide a more detailed picture of the benefits of uveitis treatment. Best-corrected visual acuity and vision-related (using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire [NEI-VFQ] and Indian Vision Function Questionnaire [IND-VFQ]) and health-related QoL (using Short-Form 36 version 2 [SF-36v2] Physical Component Summary [PCS] and Mental Component Summary [MCS]) were determined at baseline and after 6 months.   

Researchers reported significant improvements in visual acuity and all measures of QoL, with all changes in QoL meeting the minimal clinically important difference definition. Importantly, the team found that visual acuity was significantly correlated with the various measures of QoL assessed with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.5, 0.5, 0.3, and 0.4 for NEI-VFQ, IND-VFQ, and SF-36v2 MCS and PCS, respectively. 

“Visual acuity was correlated with health- and vision-related QoL at a clinically meaningful level,” the authors concluded. 

Reference

Chattopadhyay A, Rathinam SR, Gonzales JA, et al. Assessing QoL and VA in a randomized clinical trial of uveitis patients taking antimetabolites. Paper presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology 2021 Annual Meeting; November 12-15, 2021; New Orleans. Abstract PA010.