A quality of life study comparing scleral buckle and pneumatic retinopexy for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Figures & data

Table 1 VFQ-25 subscale scores for scleral buckle and pneumatic retinopexy

VFQ-25 subscale score	Mean (standard deviation)		95% confidence interval of the difference		P-value
	Scleral buckle (N=31)	Pneumatic retinopexy (N=28)	Lower	Upper
General health	66.9 (25.3)	73.2 (25.4)	−19.5	7.0	0.35
General vision	71.8 (14.3)	75.7 (15.7)	−11.7	3.9	0.33
Ocular pain	76.6 (23.9)	82.6 (21.1)	−17.8	5.8	0.31
Near activities	79.3 (21.4)	75.1 (20.7)	−6.8	15.1	0.45
Distance activities	77.6 (21.0)	81.0 (20.0)	−14.1	7.3	0.53
Social functioning	89.9 (20.0)	92.0 (17.1)	−11.8	7.7	0.68
Mental health	71.4 (28.5)	79.0 (24.0)	−21.5	6.2	0.27
Role difficulty	72.7 (20.2)	77.2 (25.9)	−16.5	7.5	0.46
Dependency	88.0 (24.3)	90.6 (24.1)	−15.2	10.1	0.68
Driving	74.9 (21.3)	75.0 (27.0)	−12.8	12.5	0.98
Color vision	94.8 (16.4)	93.3 (16.1)	−7.0	9.9	0.73
Peripheral vision	71.5 (28.7)	72.3 (28.3)	−15.8	14.0	0.91

Notes: The VFQ-25 consists of 25 questions that ask the patient to rate their general health and vision, the difficulty of completing different tasks because of vision limitations, and how well they have responded to their level of vision. Questions are assigned to one of 12 subscales. Each item is translated to a score from 0 to 100, with 100 being the best functioning. Scores from questions within each subscale are averaged together to create a score from 0 to 100 for each subscale. Finally, a composite score for the VFQ-25 is calculated by averaging all of the subscale scores, except the general health rating question. No significant differences were found for any of the subscale scores.

Abbreviation: VFQ-25, National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25.

Table 2 Additional question scores for scleral buckle and pneumatic retinopexy

Additional questions	Mean (standard deviation)		95% confidence interval of the difference		P-value
	Scleral buckle (N=29)	Pneumatic retinopexy (N=26)	Lower	Upper
Difficulty with activities	2.9 (1.9)	2.7 (2.1)	−0.8	1.4	0.61
Limitations	2.7 (1.8)	2.8 (2.2)	−1.2	0.9	0.78
Pain	2.3 (2.4)	2.0 (2.2)	−0.9	1.5	0.62
Early pain	4.2 (3.0)	3.7 (2.6)	−1.0	2.1	0.49
Pain 48 hours postoperative	5.3 (3.1)	4.4 (3.2)	−0.8	2.6	0.29
Difficulty postoperative	5.3 (2.8)	4.9 (3.0)	−1.2	1.9	0.66
Resume normal activity (weeks)	3.4 (1.5)	3.1 (1.2)	−0.5	1.0	0.46
Choosing the same operation (%)	59	85	NA	NA	0.06

Notes: Eight questions were added to the VFQ-25 in order to create a modified survey targeted to patients who have undergone retinal detachment procedures. Scores ranged from 1 to 10, with higher numbers indicating increased difficulty or pain. No significant differences were found for any of the questions, but chi-squared analysis revealed a trend toward a higher percentage of patients choosing the same procedure for their fellow eye in the pneumatic retinopexy group compared to the scleral buckle group (P=0.06).

Abbreviations: VFQ-25, National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25; NA, not applicable.