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Abstract
Methods
The fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES IV) is a nationwide survey. The present study included 11,022 Koreans who completed the KNHANES IV. The relation of visual acuity and QOL was verified, and EuroQoL 5D (EQ-5D) was identified using the adjusted mean based on linear regression analysis.
Results
As visual acuity decreased, QOL decreased. QOL in mobility, usual activities, and pain/discomfort were affected by the vision gradient, while self-care and anxiety/depression were less influenced by the vision gradient. In particular, QOL in usual activities was significantly affected by the visual gradient. Subjects with a visual acuity of 1.6–3.0 were less likely to have a low QOL in usual activities compared to subjects with a visual acuity of 0.0–0.5 as a reference group (adjusted Odds Ratio = 23.6, 95% CI, 4.8–115.5). QOL in usual activities was statistically low in subjects older than 65 years of age, with low household monthly income, low education, and living without a spouse.
Conclusions
As visual acuity decreased, QOL in the aspect of mobility, usual activities, and pain/discomfort decreased severely, which resulted from activity limitation. Considering that the risk group with increasing age, low income, low education, and living without a spouse had lower QOL, the most important is to increase activity, which can induce the improvement of QOL in Koreans who have low visual acuity and related risk factors is.
References
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Figure 1.
Association between quality of life and visual acuity (log MAR) using LOWESS fit line. Gray line and triangle mean unadjusted mean of quality of life, black line and circle mean adjusted mean of quality of life after adjusting age, sex, income, education, occupation, residential area, and spouse. Vertical axis mean degree of quality of life; 1 no problem, 2 some/moder-ate problem, and 3 extreme problem. In terms of “6. EuroQOL index”, maximum score is 1 that mean the best quality of life. Horizontal axis mean visual acuity by log MAR. 2.5, 3.0, and 0 mean light perception, no light perception, and 1.0 as a decimal unit of visual acuity repectively.
Table 1.
Characteristics of study population (n = 11,022)
Table 2.
Factors associated with quality of life in usual activities – multivariate logistic regression analysis (n = 11,022)
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