Assessing Vision-Related Quality of Life of Older People in Tehran and Associated Factors

Background: Visual disorders in old age is one of the most important factors in decreasing quality of life of older people. This study aimed to access the vision-related quality of life of older people in Tehran and to examine some of the underlying factors. Materials and Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional study among 566 older people aged 60 years and over, living in Tehran. A multistage cluster randomized sampling method was used to select study population, data was gathered using interviewing them at their home. NEI-25 VFQ (Visual-Functioning Questionnaire) was used to measure the vision-related quality of life of the participants. Multi-level linear regression analysis was used to data analysis. Results: The average score of the vision-related quality of life was 80 out of 100. Among 12 dimensions of Visual-Functioning Questionnaire, the dimensions of color vision (CV), vision specific social functioning (VSSF) and peripheral vision with the scores of 96.8, 96.7 and 95 gained the highest and the dimensions of driving and vision specific dependency (VSD) with the scores of 42.6 and 50.3 had the lowest scores, respectively. Significant associations were observed between being a women, older, and having a lower education with poorer vision-related quality of life. Conclusion: This study results provides an evidence for policymakers in prioritizing visual health services based on more impaired visual function and also at risk older people.