Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study

Purpose: Coping strategies employed by people with visual disability can influence their quality of life (QoL). We aimed to assess coping in patients with low vision or blindness. Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study, 60 patients (25–65 years) with <6/18 best-corrected vision (BCVA)...

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Main Authors: Puja Rai, Jolly Rohatgi, Upreet Dhaliwal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2019-01-01
Series:Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ijo.in/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=2019;volume=67;issue=5;spage=669;epage=676;aulast=Rai
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author Puja Rai
Jolly Rohatgi
Upreet Dhaliwal
author_facet Puja Rai
Jolly Rohatgi
Upreet Dhaliwal
author_sort Puja Rai
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: Coping strategies employed by people with visual disability can influence their quality of life (QoL). We aimed to assess coping in patients with low vision or blindness. Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study, 60 patients (25–65 years) with <6/18 best-corrected vision (BCVA) in the better eye and vision loss since ≥6 months were recruited after the institutional ethics clearance and written informed consent. Age, gender, presence of other chronic illness, BCVA, coping strategies (Proactive Coping Inventory, Hindi version), and vision-related quality of life (VRQoL; Hindi version of IND-VFQ33) were recorded. Range, mean (standard deviation) for continuous and proportion for categorical variables. Pearson correlation looked at how coping varied with age and with VRQoL. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test compared coping scores across categorical variables. Statistical significance was taken at P < 0.05. Results: Sixty patients fulfilled inclusion criteria. There were 33 (55%) women; 25 (41.7%) had low vision, 5 (8.3%) had economic blindness, and 30 (50.0%) had social blindness; 27 (45.0%) had a co-morbid chronic illness. Total coping score was 142 ± 26.43 (maximum 217). VRQoL score (maximum 100) was 41.9 ± 15.98 for general functioning; 32.1 ± 12.15 for psychosocial impact, and 41.1 ± 17.30 for visual symptoms. Proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, and preventive coping scores correlated positively with VRQoL in general functioning and psychosocial impact. Conclusion: Positive coping strategies are associated with a better QoL. Ophthalmologists who evaluate visual disability should consider coping mechanisms that their patients employ and should refer them for counseling and training in more positive ways of coping.
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spelling doaj.art-29040537466841418ec6b23b5ccc0f9b2022-12-22T02:36:54ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Ophthalmology0301-47381998-36892019-01-0167566967610.4103/ijo.IJO_1655_18Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory studyPuja RaiJolly RohatgiUpreet DhaliwalPurpose: Coping strategies employed by people with visual disability can influence their quality of life (QoL). We aimed to assess coping in patients with low vision or blindness. Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study, 60 patients (25–65 years) with <6/18 best-corrected vision (BCVA) in the better eye and vision loss since ≥6 months were recruited after the institutional ethics clearance and written informed consent. Age, gender, presence of other chronic illness, BCVA, coping strategies (Proactive Coping Inventory, Hindi version), and vision-related quality of life (VRQoL; Hindi version of IND-VFQ33) were recorded. Range, mean (standard deviation) for continuous and proportion for categorical variables. Pearson correlation looked at how coping varied with age and with VRQoL. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test compared coping scores across categorical variables. Statistical significance was taken at P < 0.05. Results: Sixty patients fulfilled inclusion criteria. There were 33 (55%) women; 25 (41.7%) had low vision, 5 (8.3%) had economic blindness, and 30 (50.0%) had social blindness; 27 (45.0%) had a co-morbid chronic illness. Total coping score was 142 ± 26.43 (maximum 217). VRQoL score (maximum 100) was 41.9 ± 15.98 for general functioning; 32.1 ± 12.15 for psychosocial impact, and 41.1 ± 17.30 for visual symptoms. Proactive coping, reflective coping, strategic planning, and preventive coping scores correlated positively with VRQoL in general functioning and psychosocial impact. Conclusion: Positive coping strategies are associated with a better QoL. Ophthalmologists who evaluate visual disability should consider coping mechanisms that their patients employ and should refer them for counseling and training in more positive ways of coping.http://www.ijo.in/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=2019;volume=67;issue=5;spage=669;epage=676;aulast=RaiBlindnesscoping strategyIND-VFQ33proactive coping inventoryquality of lifevisionlowvision-related quality of life
spellingShingle Puja Rai
Jolly Rohatgi
Upreet Dhaliwal
Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology
Blindness
coping strategy
IND-VFQ33
proactive coping inventory
quality of life
vision
low
vision-related quality of life
title Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study
title_full Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study
title_fullStr Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study
title_full_unstemmed Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study
title_short Coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness – an exploratory study
title_sort coping strategy in persons with low vision or blindness an exploratory study
topic Blindness
coping strategy
IND-VFQ33
proactive coping inventory
quality of life
vision
low
vision-related quality of life
url http://www.ijo.in/article.asp?issn=0301-4738;year=2019;volume=67;issue=5;spage=669;epage=676;aulast=Rai
work_keys_str_mv AT pujarai copingstrategyinpersonswithlowvisionorblindnessanexploratorystudy
AT jollyrohatgi copingstrategyinpersonswithlowvisionorblindnessanexploratorystudy
AT upreetdhaliwal copingstrategyinpersonswithlowvisionorblindnessanexploratorystudy