The effect of personality on measures of quality of life related to vision in glaucoma patients

Aim:To determine the effect of personality on vision-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL).Methods:Based on power calculations, 148 individuals diagnosed as having glaucoma or ocular hypertension, without ocular comorbidity, were selected using criteria that included age over 30, no recent or upcoming surgery, the absence of a diagnosis of clinical depression or any other psychiatric illness. Qualifying participants completed the 25-Item National Eye Institute’s Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ), the Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R) and the 15-Item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and provided information regarding their demographic characteristics and past medical history. Each patient also underwent an ocular examination. Data analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between NEO PI-R personality profiles and VFQ scoring, while controlling for the effects of a range of demographic, psychiatric, past medical and clinical ophthalmic variables.Results:Multivariate analysis indicated that after controlling for a range of covariates, three out of five NEO PI-R personality domains shared statistically significant associations with a variety of VFQ total and subscale score measurements.Conclusion:Normal variations in personality characteristics influence how patients report their vision-specific HRQoL.