The Relationship Between Self-Management and Quality of Life and Visual Function in Glaucoma Patients

Introduction: Self-management positively contributes to the Quality of Life of many patients with chronic diseases. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-management and the quality of life and visual performance among patients with glaucoma. Materials and Methods: The current cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted at the glaucoma clinic of the Eye Hospital in Tabriz City, Iran. Through simple random sampling method, the quality of life, visual function, and self-management of 120 patients were compared using the Glaucoma Quality of Life (GQOL-15), National Eye Institute Visual Functioning (NEI-VFQ), and Patient Activating Measure (PAM) questionnaires. The study participants’ demographic data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Student Samples t-test and Pearson’s correlational coefficient were conducted to compare mean scores and determine the study variables’ relations. Results: The total Mean±SD scores for the quality of life, self-management, and visual performance of the studied patients were 33.88±12.73, 65.06±12.69, and 81.36±14.01, respectively. There was a significant relationship between self-management and the quality of life and visual performance of the patients (P=0.001). Conclusion: There was a significant linear relationship between self-management and the quality of life and visual performance of the studied patients; thus, considering self management strategies in patient education plans for nursing curriculums and hospitals’ education programs are suggested.