Utility values in patients with acquired anophthalmus.

BACKGROUND

Loss of an eye can be supposed to lead to reduced health-related quality of life. This can be due to monophthalmia in acquired anophthalmus and/or because of cosmetic impairment. Meanwhile several methods exist to evaluate the quality of life and the impairment in utility values in patients with ophthalmological diseases.

METHODS

Twenty-three patients who underwent enucleation of one eye with good visual acuity of the fellow eye (>20/30) were included. All patients were asked to complete a standardized time trade-off (TTO) utility assessment form as well as the self-administered National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (VFQ 25). TTO was assessed for restoring vision (TTO-A) and for restoring cosmetic appearance (TTO-B).

RESULTS

The mean TTO value for visual function (TTO-A) was 0.87, the mean TTO value for cosmetic restoration (TTO-B) was 0.90 with a significant correlation. These values are surprisingly high compared to current TTO data. Visual acuity of the last eye and utility values were not correlated. TTO was not influenced by the underlying diagnosis. Patients older than 50 years were willing to trade off relatively more years than younger patients. TTO values were independent from the duration of the acquired anophthalmus. The mean VFQ-25 composite score was 81.0 and significantly lower than in the normal population. There was no significant correlation between TTO and the VFQ-25 composite score or any of the 12 subscales of the VFQ-25.

CONCLUSION

Utility of patients with acquired anophthalmus and good vision of the last eye is very similar to patients with two eyes of which one is worse and good binocular vision. The VFQ-25 is no predictor for time trade-off.