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Lookup NU author(s): Anthony Hildreth, Dr Janice O'Connell, Professor Christopher Gray
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Aims-To develop and validate a scale for the measurement of visual symptoms and functional disability due to cataract in older UK residents. Methods-In depth semistructured interviews were undertaken with 44 consecutive patients awaiting cataract surgery. Patients were asked to describe visual symptoms and problems with social functioning which were then incorporated into a questionnaire, the cataract symptom scale (CSS). The CSS was further examined in a cohort of 118 consecutive cataract patients awaiting surgery. Further assessments in these patients included visual acuity, visual function using an existing scale (the VF-14), activities of daily Living, perceived health status, anxiety and depression, and a global assessment of how much patients felt their visual symptoms affected their daily life. Results-A 15 item scale was derived which was simple to administer to older patients and had a high internal consistency. The test-retest correlation coefficient for the total instrument score was r = 0.91 (p<0.0001). The CSS correlated well with the VF-14 and to a lesser extent with visual acuity in the better eye, activities of daily living, perceived health status, anxiety and depression, and the patients' global assessment of visual symptoms. Conclusion-The CSS provides information regarding the symptomatic and functional status of older cataract patients resident in the UK which cannot be obtained by measurement of visual acuity alone.
Author(s): Gray CS; O'Connell JE; Hildreth AJ; Crabtree HL; Phelan PS; Allen D
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: British Journal of Ophthalmology
Year: 1999
Volume: 83
Issue: 5
Pages: 519-523
Print publication date: 01/05/1999
ISSN (print): 0007-1161
ISSN (electronic):
Publisher: BMJ Group
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjo.83.5.519
DOI: 10.1136/bjo.83.5.519
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