Psychometric properties of the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25), Japanese version

Abstract

Background

The importance of evaluating the outcomes of health care from the standpoint of the patient is now widely recognized. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a Japanese version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25).

Methods

A Japanese version was developed with a previously standardized method. The questionnaire and optional items were completed by 245 patients with cataracts, glaucoma, or age-related macular degeneration, by 110 others before and after cataract surgery, and by a reference group (n = 31). We computed rates of missing data, measured reproducibility and internal consistency reliability, and tested for convergent and discriminant validity, concurrent validity, known-groups validity, factor structure, and responsiveness to change.

Results

Based on information from the participants, some items were changed to 2-step items (asking if an activity was done, and if it was done, then asking how difficult it was). The near-vision and distance-vision subscales each had 1 item that was endorsed by very few participants, so these items were replaced with items that were optional in the English version. For example, more than 60% of participants did not drive, so the driving question was excluded. Reliability and validity were adequate for all subscales except driving, ocular pain, color vision, and peripheral vision. With cataract surgery, most scores improved by at least 20 points.

Conclusion

With minor modifications from the English version, the Japanese NEI VFQ-25 can give reliable, valid, responsive data on vision-related quality of life, for group-level comparisons or for tracking therapeutic outcomes.

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Health Qual Life Outcomes

Title: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Publisher: BioMed Central (London )

ISSN (Electronic): 1477-7525

Publication date Collection: 2005

Publication date (Electronic): 26 October 2005

Volume: 3

Page: 65

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Epidemiology and Healthcare Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida -Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

[2 ]Institute for Health Outcomes and Process Evaluation Research, Kudan Building 2nd floor, Iidabashi 1-4-7, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[3 ]Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

[4 ]Department of Ophthalmology, Nihon University Hospital, 1-8-13, Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[5 ]Inouye Eye Hospital, 4-3, Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[6 ]Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[7 ]Oki Eye Surgery Center, Sojukai Medical foundation, 2-17-1, Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan

[8 ]Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 911 Broxton Plaza, Room 313, Los Angeles, CA, USA

[9 ]Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Article

Publisher ID: 1477-7525-3-65

DOI: 10.1186/1477-7525-3-65

PMC ID: 1283746

PubMed ID: 16248900

Copyright statement: Copyright © 2005 Suzukamo et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Categories

Subject: Research