Unilateral visual impairment and health related quality of life: the Blue Mountains Eye Study

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Abstract
Background: There has been considerable recent interest in the impact of unilateral visual impairment on functional status and wellbeing, particularly in relation to second eye cataract surgery. Aim: To determine if unilateral visual impairment has a measurable impact on health related quality of life (HRQOL) in an older community, as assessed by the generic, multidimensional 36 item short form health survey (SF-36). Methods: All participants of the second cross sectional Blue Mountains Eye Study (n = 3508) were invited to attend comprehensive eye examinations and complete an SF-36 questionnaire. Unilateral visual impairment was defined as visual acuity (VA) Results: Complete data were available for 3108 participants; 227 (7.3%) had unilateral visual impairment (148 mild, 29 moderate, 50 severe). Moderate to severe non-correctable unilateral impairment was associated with poorer SF-36 profiles. After adjusting for age and sex, this group had significantly poorer scores than the unimpaired group in three of eight domains (pConclusions: Moderate to severe non-correctable unilateral visual impairment caused by eye diseases such as cataract had a measurable impact on HRQOL.