Evaluation of Health-Related Quality of Life In Children With Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis Using Quality Of Life In Children With Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis Questionnaire

• Main Author: Khusus, Khairil Ridzwan Kamalul
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: RE Ophthalmology
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/58823/

INTRODUCTION Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a recurrence, and chronic bilateral ocular allergic conjunctivitis mainly affected male prepuberty children. The signs and symptoms of VKC given a negative impact on well-being, lifestyle and limitation on psychosocial activities. There has been a lack of data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with VKC from Southeast Asia. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the mean total and subscales score of the QUICK questionnaire between the severity of VKC and in children with VKC and healthy groups. METHODOLOGY This study is a comparative cross-sectional study conducted in Hospital Selayang, Universiti Sains Malaysia between February 2019 and May 2020 involving children aged 8-15 years. The VKC participant's recruitment depends on the diagnosis of VKC, which was made based on the patient's clinical history, previous diagnosis, and objective examination. While in the control group, the participants were recruited from children with no existing ocular problems. RESULTS Two hundred forty children were recruited, including 120 children with VKC and 120 normal healthy children as control. There were statistically significant differences in all aspects of clinical data in the comparison between children with VKC and normal children (p<0.001) and within the children with VKC group (p<0.001). There was a statistical difference in mean total scores and all of the subscales between children with VKC and the control group (p<0.001) and between the children with mild, moderate and severe VKC(p<0.05). CONCLUSION The QUICK questionnaire is a good tool to assess the HRQoL among children with VKC. VKC disease negatively impacts HRQoL in children with VKC compared to normal children and in comparison within the severity of the VKC group. Understanding the psychosocial limitation and sign and symptoms of VKC that affected most HRQoL leads the physician to a holistic approach to managing the VKC patient.