Vision loss have a significant negative impact on quality of life. One of the most common causes of vision loss in patients with diabetes is diabetic macular edema - DME. Among DME patients, visual impairment is regarded as the most feared late diabetic complication. In January 2011 a new treatment for DME was approved, called anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, anti-VEGF- treatment. The treatment involves 3 injections every 4 weeks into the eye. The new treatment places increasing demands on the patient because of more visits and a stressful treatment. Beside that it is of great importance to learn more about the patient's experiences about the visual impairment and the new treatment.
The aim of the study is to measure the effects of anti-VEGF treatment on vision related functioning, quality of life and sight-related variables.
Fifty-nine patients are included in this longitudinal study at the eye clinics of two Swedish county hospitals. All patients who started anti-VEGF treatment were asked to participate.
We have measured visual functioning with the eye-specific questionnaire - National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (NEI-VFQ-25), quality of life was measured with the general questionnaire Short Form- 36 (SF-36). Medical variables were collected at baseline, after 4 months and one year respectively.
A large number of patients are affected by diabetes each year and may suffer from visual impairment. These patients may be treated with this new form of treatment. Therefore it is of great importance to examine the patient's experiences of treatment and self-percieved quality of life to be able to provide the best possible information and procedures at the eye clinics.