Health-related quality of life in Ahmed FP7, and Baerveldt 250 and 350 patients compared with medical controls

Purpose: To compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with Ahmed FP7 (FP7), Baerveldt 250 (B250) and Baerveldt 350 (B350) glaucoma drainage device (GDDs), and medically treated controls. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study from August 2017 to July 2019. The NEI 25-Item Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25), the Adult Strabismus-20 questionnaire (AS-20) and the Diplopia Questionnaire were conducted ≥30 days postoperatively in GDD patients, on enrolment for controls. Age, sex, treatment type, visual acuity, mean deviation and diplopia were evaluated for association with HRQoL Results: Of the 128 GDD patients enrolled, 35 (27.3%) had FP7, 32 (25.0%) had B250 and 61 (47.7%) had B350. In univariate analysis, decreased HRQoL was associated with younger age (r2 range 0.042-0.071), diplopia (r2 range 0.039-0.119), GDD treatment (r2 range 0.023-0.103), lower visual acuity (r2 range 0.021-0.215) and worse mean deviation (r2 range 0.029-0.131). All GDD groups had lower HRQoL subscores than the controls. HRQoL scores were lower compared with controls among B350 patients for AS-20 Self-perception subscale, B250 and B350 for Reading and General Function subscales, and FP7 and B350 for VFQ-25 Visual Functioning subscale. There were no significant differences among the GDDs. Conclusions: Glaucoma patients with a younger age, diplopia, lower visual acuity, worse mean deviation or a GDD had lower HRQoL. Those with B350 had lower self-perception scores, consistent with previous reports in the literature. This subscale was not diminished in FP7 or B250, so the decreased self-perception scores may be due to greater visibility or awareness of the B350.