Construct Validity of Inherited Retinal Disease-Specific Patient-Reported Outcome Measures

PURPOSE: To evaluate aspects of construct validity of the Michigan Retinal Degeneration Questionnaire (MRDQ) and the Michigan Vision-related Anxiety Ques-tionnaire (MVAQ). center dot METHODS: Subjects with a clinical diagnosis of an inherited retinal disease (IRD) were recruited prospec-tively and 3 tests were used to assess construct valid-ity: the ability to distinguish different IRD phenotypes; test a priori hypothesis of an association between vision-related anxiety and vision-related disabilities; and corre-late MRDQ and MVAQ with the National Eye Insti-tute Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (NEI VFQ-25) and the Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to com-pare different phenotypes for mean domain scores for MRDQ/MVAQ. Pearson correlations were performed be-tween; Cone-Function Anxiety and Central Vision con-trolling for better eye visual acuity, Rod-Function Anxi-ety and Scotopic Function controlling for visual field area (III4e and IV4e), and scores of MRDQ/MVAQ, NEI VFQ-25, and IVI. center dot RESULTS: The study sample consisted of 146 pa-tients evenly divided between males and females, and mean age was 50 years. The 1-way ANOVA test was significant for distinguishing IRD phenotypes in 6 do-mains of MRDQ/MVAQ. Cone-Function Anxiety corre-lated with Central Vision controlling for visual acuity, Rod-Function Anxiety correlated with Scotopic Func-tion controlling for visual field area, and all domains in MRDQ/MVAQ had significant correlations with NEI VFQ-25 and IVI composite scores. center dot CONCLUSION: MRDQ and MVAQ domenstrate aspects of construct-validity set forth by the US Food and Drug Administration. The study futher supports the use of both patient-reported outcome measures in IRD clinical trials and natural history studies. (Am J Ophthalmol 2023;248: 116-126. (c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights re-served.)

Automated summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the construct validity of the Michigan Retinal Degeneration Questionnaire (MRDQ) and the Michigan Vision-related Anxiety Questionnaire (MVAQ). The study recruited subjects with a clinical diagnosis of inherited retinal disease (IRD) and used three tests to assess construct validity. The results showed that the MRDQ and MVAQ demonstrated aspects of construct validity.