Quality of life in people with visual impairment compared with the general population

AimThe aim of the present study was to examine quality of life and its associated factors among adults with visual impairment in Norway.Subject and methodsOf the 1216 adults contacted, 736 (61% response rate) participated in a cross-sectional survey. A general population probability sample served as reference (n=1792, 36% response rate). Differences between the populations were examined with independent t-tests for continuous variables and with Chi-square tests for categorical variables. Quality of life covariates were investigated with linear regression analysis.ResultsPeople with visual impairment had lower quality of life than the general Norwegian population, across all age groups (mean QOL: 6.8 versus 7.6, p<0.001) and within all age groups (all p<0.01). Compared with the general population, people with visual impairment were less likely to report the highest levels and more likely to report intermediate levels of quality of life. Higher quality of life was associated with lower onset-age of impaired vision (B=-0.11, p<0.001), having employment (B=0.36, p=0.02), lower levels of loneliness (B=-0.28, p<0.001) and higher levels of social support (B=0.40, p<0.001) and general self-efficacy (B=0.07, p<0.001).ConclusionQuality of life was lower among people with visual impairment and may be increased by promoting work participation, social inclusion, connectedness, and coping.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of life and associated factors among visually impaired adults in Norway. The results showed that people with visual impairment had lower quality of life compared to the general population. They were also less likely to report the highest levels of quality of life. Factors such as onset age of visual impairment, employment status, loneliness levels, social support, and general self-efficacy were found to be associated with higher quality of life.