• DOI:10.1167/iovs.10-5645
• Corpus ID: 37494960

Validation of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) in age-related macular degeneration.

@article{Orr2011ValidationOT,
  title={Validation of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) in age-related macular degeneration.},
  author={Peggy R. Orr and Anne M. Rentz and Mary Kay Margolis and Dennis A. Revicki and Chantal M Dolan and Shoshana S. Colman and Jennifer T. Fine and Neil M. Bressler},
  journal={Investigative ophthalmology \& visual science},
  year={2011},
  volume={52 6},
  pages={
          3354-9
        }
}

• Peggy R. Orr, A. Rentz, +5 authors N. Bressler
• Published 1 May 2011
• Medicine, Psychology
• Investigative ophthalmology & visual science

PURPOSE
Patient-reported measures of visual function are increasingly incorporated into clinical trials of new treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Limited information is available regarding the associations between distance visual acuity (VA), reading speed, or contrast sensitivity and the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) subscales judged relevant to these measures. This study's objective was to evaluate such associations along with questions on restricted activity days.

METHODS
This cross-sectional study was conducted in patients with clinical diagnoses of neovascular AMD. Patient-reported outcome measures included the NEI VFQ-25 and restricted activity days. Clinical assessments included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), reading speed, and contrast sensitivity. The better-seeing eye was defined based on the BCVA of each patient. Psychometric properties of the NEI VFQ-25 were examined; analyses a priori focused on the Near Activities, Distance Activities, and Vision-Specific Dependency subscales.

RESULTS
The final study group included 92 participants (mean age, 78 years). Cronbach's α for the subscales ranged from 0.67 to 0.92. The NEI VFQ-25 overall composite, Near Activities, Distance Activities, and Vision-Specific Dependency scores were correlated with BCVA (r = -0.48 to -0.54, all P < 0.0001), reading speed (r = 0.43 to 0.56, all P < 0.0001), and contrast sensitivity (r = -0.39 to -0.46, all P < 0.001) of the better-seeing eye and with restricted activity days (r = -0.52 to -0.55, all P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
This study provides additional evidence supporting the validity of the NEI VFQ-25 in neovascular AMD patients by demonstrating correlations with a spectrum of vision measurements and a daily function measure.