Quality of Life (QoL) in Non-Acute Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada Disease (VKHD) at Two Time Points 24 Months Apart

ABSTRACT

Aims

To investigate the changes in quality-of-life (QoL) metrics at a 24-month interval in non-acute VKHD patients and their association with inflammation, treatment, and visual function.

Methods

SF-36 and VFQ-25 questionnaires were administered at two 24-month-apart moments to 22 non-acute VKHD patients followed for ≥12 months since acute disease onset. “Improvement,” “unchanged,” or “worsening” in questionnaires scores (difference >5-point) between M1 and M2 and their associations were sought.

Results

Absence of systemic treatment or optic disc hyperfluorescence was associated with improved general health (SF-36). Improvement in binocular contrast sensitivity resulted in better ocular pain score; absence of anterior uveitis relapse, stable fundus findings, no use of cyclosporine or no intravitreal injections resulted in unchanged/better dependency score; no intravitreal injections resulted in unchanged/better mental health score (VFQ-25).

Conclusion

Stability/improvement in QoL scores was associated with controlled inflammation, better visual function, and no need for treatment. Subclinical inflammatory signs did not impact QoL scores.

KEYWORDS:

• Choroidal inflammation
• immunosuppression
• quality-of-life assessment
• visual function
• Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2022.2152697

Additional information

Funding

The authors wish to acknowledge the support provided by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Grant #2011/50936-7 and the CAPES DS Grant. The funding sources had no role in the design or conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.