Patient Reported Health and Quality of Life in Uveitis Patients on Systemic Immunosuppression

Introduction: Uveitis is an important cause of morbidity amongst patients seen in the eye clinic due to the disease itself and the drugs used in its management.

Purpose: Our aim was to determine the disease burden of patients with uveitis using patient reported outcome measures.

Methods: This was a single-centre questionnaire study to assess health and vision related quality of life using validated SF36 and VQOL questionnaires. A questionnaire was sent to patients with uveitis treated by systemic immunosuppressants. Response rate was 100%. Data was analysed using Excel.

Results: A total 20 patients (8 male 12 female) were include in the study. The mean age was 49.6 (range 34- 80). Ethnicity: 13 Caucasian, 6 Asian, 1 Afro-Caribbean. Average duration of disease: 6.75 years. Patients had a range of diagnoses and were on a range of immunosuppressive agents, mainly mycophenolate mofetil. In the SF-36 health survey, the mean score for the patients’ perception of their general health was 4.25, where 1 is excellent and 5 is poor. 65% of respondents reported their health limited their daily activities a lot, 30% a little and 5% not at all. 100% reported systemic problems, most commonly difficulty sleeping and feeling down. 

Conclusions: Our questionnaire survey in uveitis patients on systemic immunosuppression indicates a substantial impact of the patients’ quality of life. Ophthalmologists managing these patients must bear this in mind and offer support to help relieve the disease burden. 

Keywords: Uveitis, quality of life, immunosuppression, ophthalmology, patient reported outcomes.