How Does the Visual Function and Glaucoma-Related Quality of Life Vary After an Educational Intervention?

Abstract

Maintaining quality of life among individuals suffering from glaucoma should be accounted as the most significant purpose for management of the disease. The effectiveness of glaucoma interventions is linked to receive information regarding the disease from sources external to their physician. This study aimed to develop an educational intervention and evaluate its effectiveness on improving visual function and glaucoma-related QOL assessed by patients’ perception. This trial was done as a single-center, observer-blinded, two-group randomized controlled trial. Eighty adults with glaucoma were randomized to receive either usual glaucoma care (control group) or an interventional education (intervention group). The duration of the intervention was 8 weeks. The outcomes were visional function and glaucoma-related quality of life. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and at 8 weeks. Patients in the intervention group showed significant improvement in visional function and glaucoma-related quality of life. A series of paired t-tests (Table 3) were conducted to compare the level of visual functioning between the intervention group before starting the intervention (mean = 62.08, SD = 18.36) and at the end of 8 weeks (mean = 68.29, SD = 19.64) which showed a significant difference t(39) = 4.85, p = 0.000. In contrast, this analysis was not significant for quality of life. In order to control the effect of basic quality of life among the intervention group, an ANCOVA was conducted. For this ANCOVA, follow-up score of quality of life was included as the dependent variable, two groups as the independent variable, and baseline score of quality of life as the covariance. Our results showed that the level of quality of life among interventions had significantly (F (1, 77) = 4.33, p = 0.04) increased at the end of 8 weeks. In addition, a two-way ANOVA was conducted to assess the effects of the intervention on the level of visual function. Our results showed that the level of visual function among interventions had significantly (F (1, 77) = 18.28, p = 0.000) increased at the end of the 8-week intervention. We aimed to assess the effect of educational package in glaucoma-related quality of life. Participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements in visual function and glaucoma-related quality of life compared to patients in the control group.