Título / Title

QUALITY OF LIFE AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS IN PATIENTS WITH OCULAR TOXOPLASMOSIS

Introdução / Purpose

Considering the importance of visual ability to independence in performing daily activities and survival, it is important to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) of people with diseases that may cause visual impairment. Ocular toxoplasmosis is an important cause of posterior uveitis, it infects around 33% of humans, and therefore is a frequent cause of decreased visual acuity in the affected eye. Few studies looked at vision related QoL in specific uveitis patient group.
This study has the purpose to evaluate the quality of life in patients with uveitis related to toxoplasmosis and its correlation with demographic, ocular involvement and psychosocial aspects.

Material e Método / Methods

Observational, analytical study, in the Ophthalmology department of UNIFESP. Inclusion criteria were patients >=18 yo, with ocular toxoplasmosis. A complete ophthalmic examination were performed. Questionnaire structured by the researchers were used to collect demographic and ocular features data. To assess psychosocial aspects and QoL three validated standardized questionnaires were applied: HADS; SF12®; NEI VQF-25. Statistical analysis used were Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney test.

Resultados / Results

81 patients, group’s average age was 41,5 ± 14.5 yr, most female (n=41; 50,6%). 60 participants (0-0.4 logMAR), 9 (0.48-0.9 logMAR) and 12 (>1 logMAR). Forty-five of the subjects had at least one ocular comorbidities (table 1).
On HADS, 38% of subjects had anxiety symptoms ranked from mild to severe and it were significantly associated with visual status category (p = 0.037) (table 2).
In terms of health-related quality of life (HRQol), the mean of SF-12 physical and mental components scores were 48.5 ± 7.4 and 52.4 ± 10.6 (table 3) and the mean of VFQ-25 Global composite score was 75.3 ± 19.5 (table 4).

Discussão e Conclusões / Conclusion

Visual impairment secondary to ocular toxoplasmosis has impact on several scales of HRQoL and higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms compared to depression.

Palavras Chave

Uveitis, Ocular Toxoplasmosis, Anxiety, Depression, Quality of Life, Visual Acuity