The personal burden of decreased vision-targeted health-related quality of life in nursing home residents.

Objective: To present the bother subscales of the Nursing Home Vision-Targeted Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (NHVQoL) and to examine their relationship to the original NHVQoL subscales and objective measures of visual function.

Method: 395 nursing home residents completed the bother subscales. Associations between bother subscales and original subscales and objectively measured vision were evaluated.

Effect of refractive error correction on health-related quality of life and depression in older nursing home residents.

Objective: To examine the effect of treating uncorrected refractive error through spectacle correction on vision-targeted health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms in nursing home residents.

Methods: Persons aged 55 years or older residing in nursing homes in Birmingham, Alabama, having uncorrected refractive error were randomly assigned to either immediate spectacle correction of uncorrected refractive error or delayed correction (after the 2-month follow-up visit).

Main Outcome Measures: Vision-targeted health-related quality of life (measured with the Nursing Home Vision-Targeted Health-Related Quality-of-Life Questionnaire and the VF-14) and depressive symptoms (measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale), assessed at baseline and at 2 months.

The visual status of older persons residing in nursing homes.

Objective: To characterize habitual visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, spectacle use, and eye care utilization in a large sample of older adults residing in nursing homes.

Methods: Of 33 nursing homes identified in Birmingham, Alabama, 17 served as sites. Eligibility criteria included age 55 years or older, English-speaking, and Mini-Mental State Examination score of 13 or higher.

Impact of cataract surgery on health-related quality of life in nursing home residents.

Aim: To assess the impact of cataract surgery in nursing home residents on health-related quality of life, as compared to those who have cataracts but who do not undergo surgery.

Methods: A prospective cohort study enrolled 30 nursing home residents (>or=60 years old) who had cataracts and underwent cataract surgery, and evaluated vision-targeted and generic health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms before and approximately 4 months after surgery. This cataract surgery group was compared to 15 nursing home residents who had cataracts but who did not have surgery, over the same timeframe.

Perceived barriers to care and attitudes about vision and eye care: focus groups with older African Americans and eye care providers.

Purpose: To identify by using focus group methods the perceived barriers to eye care and attitudes about vision and eye care among older African Americans as well as among ophthalmologists and optometrists serving their communities.

Methods: Seventeen focus groups of older African Americans residing in the Birmingham or Montgomery, Alabama, areas were led by an experienced facilitator. Discussion was stimulated by a semistructured script focused on their perceived barriers to eye care and attitudes about vision and eye care.

Development of a questionnaire to assess vision problems under low luminance in age-related maculopathy.

Purpose: To develop a questionnaire for assessing self-reported visual problems under low luminance and at night for use in studies on age-related maculopathy (ARM).

Methods: The questionnaire was developed in three steps: (1) Content for questionnaire items was identified through focus groups of older adults with ARM and those exhibiting normal retinal aging. The topic for discussion was "vision at night and under low lighting.

Mobility function in older veterans improves after blind rehabilitation.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of blind rehabilitation training on self-reported mobility function in visually impaired adults. Mobility function was assessed with a questionnaire administered before and 2 months after subjects completed a comprehensive blind rehabilitation program that included orientation and mobility training. Subjects rated the level of difficulty performing in 26 of 34 mobility situations as significantly lower after rehabilitation.

Vision-specific health-related quality of life in age-related maculopathy patients presenting for low vision services.

Few studies have examined the effectiveness of low vision rehabilitation for age-related maculopathy (ARM) patients and its impact on vision-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, before a multi-site clinical trial can be conducted, appropriate outcome measures need to be identified for ARM patients who seek out low vision rehabilitation, including a vision-specific HR QoL instrument. The 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) was developed to assess vision-specific HRQoL for low vision patients, including those with ARM.

Quality of care in the nursing home: effects of staff assignment and work shift.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare a variety of resident and staff outcomes across two types of staffing patterns, permanent and rotating assignment, and work shift. Although studies have examined these staffing patterns as part of multicomponent intervention packages, few studies have examined the isolated effects of staffing pattern by using an experimental design.

Design And Methods: A between-groups comparison design was used to compare residents and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) from four nursing homes; two self-identified as using permanent assignment (PA) staffing and two as using rotating assignment (RA) staffing.

Impact of cataract surgery on self-reported visual difficulties: comparison with a no-surgery reference group.

Purpose: To examine the impact of cataract surgery on older adults' self-reported visual difficulties and compare them with those of patients with cataract who declined surgery over the same period.

Setting: Twelve area practices.

Methods: This was a consecutive chart review over a 6-month period.

Driving habits and health-related quality of life in patients with age-related maculopathy.

Purpose: To characterize the driving habits of persons with age-related maculopathy who present to a low-vision rehabilitation clinic and to examine how driving status relates to vision-specific health-related quality of life.

Methods: The Driving Habits Questionnaire, the National Eye Institute Vision Function Questionnaire-25, and the Life Space Questionnaire were administered via telephone interview to 126 patients with age-related maculopathy who presented to a low-vision clinic during the previous year and were either past or current drivers.

Results: Twenty-four percent of the sample reported being a current driver.

Vision-specific health-related quality of life: content areas for nursing home residents.

Nursing home residents have a high prevalence of remediable visual impairment and blindness. Future research on the effectiveness of providing eye care to nursing home residents will need to include a vision-targeted health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument appropriate for this population. The purpose of this study was to identify the core content areas for such an instrument.

Early age-related maculopathy and self-reported visual difficulty in daily life.

Purpose: To determine whether early age-related maculopathy (ARM) is associated with visual difficulty in daily activities beyond the difficulty that would be expected based on normal retinal aging; to determine whether scotopic sensitivity and visual acuity are associated with visual difficulties in these older adults.

Study Design: Comparative, cross-sectional questionnaire study.

Subjects: Ninety-two older adults with early ARM in at least one eye as defined by one or more large (>63 microm) drusen and/or focal hyperpigmentation but no choroidal neovascularization or geographic atrophy, acuity of 20/60 or better, and a reference group of 55 older adults in the same age range without these fundus features and acuity of 20/35 or better in each eye.