Visual function and quality of life in pseudophakic patients before and after capsulotomy

PURPOSE. To assess the correlation between visual acuity, visual function, and health-related quality of life before and after neodymium:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy. METHODS. A total of 150 patients with posterior capsule opacification (PCO) were examined before and after capsulotomy. Ocular examination, visual acuity, patient reports of satisfaction with vision, and disease-specific (VF-14 Index of Visual Functions) and generic (EuroQol: EQ-5D) outcomes were measured at baseline and 3 weeks after treatment. RESULTS. After capsulotomy, patients showed significant improvements in binocular visual acuity, VF-14 index, satisfaction with vision, and EQ-5D measures. The average gains in visual function and quality of life were apparent in groups with good visual outcome and poor visual outcome. The VF-14 score improvement was moderately correlated with the EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale score improvement, showing stronger correlations with changes in self-reported satisfaction with vision than did gains in binocular visual acuity CONCLUSIONS. Measuring of the outcomes of capsulotomy by clinical indicators alone may underestimate the overall benefits of treatment. Visual acuity in conjunction with visual function and health-related quality of life questionnaires will likely prove to be better indicators of the need for and outcome of capsulotomy.