Responsiveness of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire to progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration, vision loss, and lens opacity: AREDS Report No. 14

Abstract

Objective: To describe the ability of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) to detect meaningful change over time (responsiveness) to the primary Age-Related Eye Disease Study outcomes. Methods: The 25-item NEI-VFQ plus appendix was administered at 2 visits at 1- to 4-year intervals to 4119 participants in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. Events evaluated were progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), visual acuity (VA) loss of at least 15 letters, and lens opacity progression. Responsiveness was measured by the t statistic, effect size (ES), responsiveness statistic, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Variance components were used to estimate the contributions of events to variability of the NEI-VFQ score. Results: Overall NEI-VFQ score was responsive to AMD progression (t=14.0; P