Vision‐related quality of life in patients with occipital stroke

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to detect visual field defects (VFDs) after occipital infarction, investigate the rate of recovery and the impact of VFD upon vision‐related quality of life (QoL). Materials and methods Multicenter, prospective study including patients with MRI verified acute occipital infarction (NOR‐OCCIP project). Ophthalmological examination including perimetry was performed within 2 weeks and after 6 months. Vision‐related QoL was assessed by the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (VFQ‐25) at one and 6 months post‐stroke. Results We included 76 patients, reliable perimetry results were obtained in 66 patients (87%) at a median of 8 days after admittance and VFD were found in 52 cases (79%). Evaluation of VFD after 6 months revealed improvement in 52%. Patients with VFD had significantly lower composite score in VFQ‐25 at both test points (77 vs 96, P = .001 and 87 vs 97, P = .009), in nine out of eleven subscales of VFQ‐25 at 1 month and seven subscales after 6 months, including mental health, dependency, near and distance activities. Milder VFD had better results on VFQ‐25 modified composite score (95 vs 74, P = .002).VFD improvement was related to improved VFQ‐25 modified composite score (9.6 vs 0.8, P = .018). About 10% of patients with VFD reported driving 1 month post‐stroke and 38% after 6 months. Conclusion VFD substantially reduces multiple aspects of vision‐related QoL. Severity of VFD is related to QoL and VFD improvement results in better QoL. Neglecting visual impairment after stroke may result in deterioration of rehabilitation efforts. Driving post‐stroke deserves particular attention.

Impact of Visual Impairment and Correction on Vision-Related Quality of Life: Comparing People with Different Levels of Visual Acuity in Indonesia

“…People with normal vision had the highest total NEI VFQ-25 score and those with blindness had the lowest, indicating that vision-related quality of life decreases with the worsening of visual acuity. This is in accordance with other studies conducted in other countries (Fleming et al, 2019;Tharaldsen et al, 2020;Yibekal et al, 2020).…”

Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of a structured visual assessment after stroke in municipal health care services

“…Evidence considered strong by knowledge users has been shown to be more easily adopted than practice with weak evidence [ 46 ]. However, as others have described, evidence from research is not sufficient alone, clinical competence and experiencing that the evidence is useful in practise is important [ 47 ]. Our study shows that the participants weighted the experience of usefulness higher than strong evidence as a motivator for implementation.…”

“…Our findings suggest a lack of focus and competence regarding vision and VIs in health care services and education. Considering that the visual sense is of such importance for function, quality of life and wellbeing, vision deserves more attention from HCP and educational institutions [ 7 , 8 , 13 – 15 , 21 , 47 ].…”

Reorganization of Brain Functional Connectivity Network and Vision Restoration Following Combined tACS-tDCS Treatment After Occipital Stroke

“…The frequency was decomposed in seven frequency bands: Delta (1-3 Hz), Theta (4-7 Hz), Alpha1 (8-10 Hz), Alpha2 (11-13 Hz), Beta1 (14-21 Hz), Beta2 (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and the whole alpha band as (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13).…”

“…The potential to restore visual fields following central visual system damage has attracted some attention during the last few decades (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Occipital stroke, for example, leads to homonymous hemianopia whereby a quarter or half of the visual field in both eyes is lost following damage (9).…”