ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VISUAL STATUS OF REMAINING EYE, EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONS IN A SAMPLE OF ANOPHTHALMIC PATIENTS IN MALAYSIA – A PILOT STUDY

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the visual status of the remaining eye, emotional well-being and social functions in anophthalmic patients using a validated questionnaire. Anophthalmic patients aged 18 years and above who visited the optometry clinic in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, for prosthetic eye fitting participated in this study. Refraction and visual acuity (VA) of the remaining eye were examined using subjective refraction and the Snellen chart, accordingly. The National Eye Institute’s 25-item Visual Functions Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) was used to determine the emotional well-being and social functions of the patients. The results were analysed using the Pearson chi-square model. A total of 23 patients participated in this study, with 52.2% of them being emmetrope, 30.4% myope and 17.4% hyperope. Their mean VA was 6/6. The mean score of NEI VFQ-25 was 67.8 ± 2.8 (score ranged: 47.5 to 93.5). The analysis revealed significant reduction in NEI VFQ-25 score for all patients [95% CI: 64.22 to 74.44, p = 0.04]. However, there is no significant association between VA of the remaining eye and the NEI VFQ-25 score (p=0.24). This study concludes that the emotional well-being and social functions of the anophthalmic patients is low, but the score is not associated with the visual status of the remaining eye.