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Visual function among corneal disease patients waiting for penetrating keratoplasty in British Columbia
P Courtright1, C I Poon, J S Richards
1British Columbia Centre for Epidemiologic & International Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Purpose:
We sought to test the applicability of a well-documented visual function assessment (VF-14) in corneal disease patients wait-listed for penetrating keratoplasty to determine if it would be a valuable addition to a priority scheme.
Methods:
A systematic random sample of patients wait-listed for penetrating keratoplasty in British Columbia was selected and administered the VF-14.
Results:
The mean VF-14 score was 67.2; it was correlated with best corrected vision. Immigrants had lower VF-14 scores and they considered fewer of the questions applicable to them. There was a correlation between the number of questions considered applicable and the VF-14 score.
Conclusions:
As currently constituted the VF-14 is probably not a useful tool in a multi-cultural population in North America. We propose revisions to the visual function assessment and suggest its inclusion in a priority scheme for penetrating keratoplasty that also includes pain and other clinical indices.