Quality of life of patients with strabismus

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of strabismus on quality of life. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 101 individuals aged 7-67 years with strabismus. They were interviewed and made to answer a questionnaire with 20 questions intended to assess the individual's interaction with their social and working environment, sensory perception, and limitations in their daily lives. There were five types of possible responses for each question: never, rarely or very few times, sometimes, frequently, and always. The questionnaire was based on the AS-20 and contained 11 questions assessing psychosocial aspects and 9 questions assessing functional aspects. Among those who were interviewed, 24.8% had undergone surgical correction of strabismus. Results: We observed a significant impact of strabismus on the quality of life of the interviewed individuals. Feelings of sadness and inferiority because of strabismus were reported by 74.2% and 58.4% respondents, respectively. In terms of functionality, 12.1% reported difficulty in reading, 14% said they had difficulty in depth perception (stereopsis), and 17.8% frequently or always associated pain or burning sensation in the eyes to strabismus. A significant difference was detected in the quality of life scores for the psychosocial aspect among patients who had and had not undergone surgery (Wilcoxon test, 158; p<0.001). Individuals who had undergone surgery had a better quality of life from the psychosocial perspective. Conclusions: In this evaluation, we found a significant negative interference of strabismus on quality of life from both the functional and psychosocial perspectives. This demonstrated the importance of treatment for strabismus, regardless of age, because it can interfere with the functional well-being of the individual.