Quality of Life in Patients With Acquired Anophthalmia Using an Ocular Prosthesis

To employ a validated survey for evaluation of quality of life (QoL) outcomes and associated factors in a US cohort of adult patients with acquired anophthalmia wearing a prosthesis.

A retrospective cohort study was performed at a single, US academic institution of patients cared for between 2012 and 2021. The electronic medical record database was queried for adult patients with a history of evisceration or enucleation surgery and placement of an orbital implant. Identified patients were asked to anonymously complete a validated QoL questionnaire from which the Global Ocular Prosthesis Score was assessed. Summary statistics were reported, and analysis of variance was used to determine surgical and demographic factors associated with QoL survey scores.

A total of 81 patients completed the questionnaire. Mean age was 45.8 years (range: 18-96 years), and 54.3% of patients identified as women. Enucleation was performed in 81.4% of eyes (n = 66), while the remaining 17.3% underwent evisceration (n = 14). The mean and median Global Ocular Prosthesis Score (out of 100) were 67.51 and 68.00, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated the etiologies of glaucoma (95% confidence interval: 0.84-25.40, p = 0.04) and endophthalmitis (95% confidence interval: 0.41-23.72, p = 0.04) to be significantly associated with higher total Global Ocular Prosthesis Score. Several other factors including employment status, etiology of anophthalmia, gender, and level of education were also significantly associated with subdomain scores ( p < 0.05).

Among patients with anophthalmia wearing an ocular prosthesis, the etiology of anophthalmia was significantly associated with the Global Ocular Prosthesis Score. Employment status, etiology of anophthalmia, gender, and level of education were also observed to have statistically significant associations with subdomain scores. Knowledge of these factors moving forward may help the surgeon manage expectations, mitigate challenges, and promote higher QoL outcomes for patients with acquired anophthalmia.