Health-related quality of life and emotional status of anophthalmic patients in Korea

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the health-related quality of life and emotional status of anophthalmic patients.

DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional study.

METHODS: The study included 134 monocular anophthalmic patients and 48 healthy volunteers who visited the department of Ophthalmology at the Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, between July and December 2008. Surveys were administered to participants to evaluate their sociodemographic characteristics and disease-related factors. Data collected from the Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale survey instruments were analyzed to identify significant differences and correlations between categories.

RESULTS: Anophthalmic patients scored lower in all categories of SF-36 compared with controls. Married females and participants with children generally had lower scores on the SF-36, and some of the differences were statistically significant. There were significant negative correlations between all SF-36 scores and participant self-evaluations on whether they had negative feelings regarding their social interpersonal relationships as a result of wearing prostheses. Those who scored higher on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety and depression scales tended to evade social interrelations significantly.

CONCLUSIONS: Anophthalmic patients had lower health-related quality-of-life scores than healthy individuals. This finding was particularly evident in terms of the patients' own perceptions of their social relationships, which were negatively affected by their use of prosthetic eyes. Such perceptions reduced their quality of life and heightened their anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is important to evaluate both the physical and emotional well-being of anophthalmic patients to identify those patients who will need additional physical and mental support.