Systematic Review of Instruments for the Assessment of Patient-Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life in Patients with Childhood Glaucoma

Topic

To identify patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) that have been used in children and adolescents with glaucoma and to evaluate their methodologic quality.

Clinical relevance

Childhood glaucoma impairs vision and quality of life (QoL) throughout all stages of life. Thus, a PROM needs to cover many different age groups and topics. Various instruments have been used to evaluate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with childhood glaucoma, however, it is unclear which PROM has the highest methodologic quality and complies best with the needs of patients with childhood glaucoma.

Methods

A systematic literature review was performed searching MEDLINE (PubMed), the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and PsycINFO (EBSCO). We included peer-reviewed full-text articles of the past 10 years in English, German, or Spanish language that reported PROMs in children with glaucoma. The study selection and methodologic quality assessment of the identified PROMs was performed by 2 independent reviewers using a 7-point checklist. The content was mapped onto the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. The systematic review was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (ID CRD42022353936).

Results

The search strategy retrieved 3295 matches. A total of 2901 studies were screened, and 11 relevant articles were identified using 10 different instruments. The instruments addressed functional visual ability, vision-related QoL, health-related QoL, and life satisfaction. Six instruments were applicable for the use in children. Seven of the questionnaires received the highest number of positive ratings (5/7). None of the instruments considered the views of patients with childhood glaucoma during their development.

Conclusion

This systematic review provides a descriptive catalog of vision-specific and generic health PRO instruments that have been used in childhood glaucoma cohorts. An instrument specifically developed for childhood glaucoma is lacking which might result in missing important factors, such as permanent treatment with eye drops, repeated surgeries, and heritability of the disease, when investigating the QoL in children with glaucoma.

Financial Disclosure(s)

Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.