Background: Access to and utilization of eye care services may improve vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) of older people. This study aimed to evaluate the VRQoL of older adults and its associations with access to and utilization of eye care services. Methods: This is a community-based cross-sectional survey conducted in Tehran, Iran, on 566 older people in 2018. The NEI-25 VFQ was used to measure the VRQoL. Multilevel Linear Regression analysis used to test the study hypotheses. Results: The average score of the VRQoL was 80 out of 100. About 61% of the participants did not utilize the annual routine eye examination and the mean score of overall access to eye care was 85 out of 115. Having a higher physical, socio-cultural and overall access were significantly associated with higher VRQoL, but those with regular utilization had no better VRQoL status compared to non-users. Conclusion: Access to eye care services showed to be very important in improvement of the VRQoL, whereas higher utilization was not found to be associated with better VRQoL statue of older people, as there might have a reverse causality with using more eye services with higher Visual impairment.

Background: Vision impairment (VI) becomes more prevalent with age, negatively affecting the vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) of older adults. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the status of VRQoL and related factors among older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 247 older adults randomly selected from comprehensive health centers in Yazd, Iran, in 2021. The data were collected through an interview using a demographic information questionnaire, self-reported eye diseases, and the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25), and analyzed using independent t-tests, ANOVA, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS. Results: Hyperopia (38.2%), cataract (35.5%), and myopia (31.3%) were the most common age-related eye diseases (ARED) among participants. The participants’ average VRQoL score was 85.37±15.24 on a scale of 0–100. Univariate analysis demonstrated that the VRQoL score was significantly related to age, marital status, use of glasses, and certain diseases and ARED (P<0.05). Based on hierarchical regression, demographics explained 25% of VRQoL variance. Adding common diseases and ARED increased it to 51% and 71% (all P<0.001). Diabetes (β=-0.15, P=0.030), hypertension (HTN) (β=-0.20, P=0.009), and ARED (β=-0.62, P<0.001) remained the most significant predictors of VRQoL in the model. Conclusion: The participants’ VRQoL was at a favorable level. Given that VRQoL is affected by numerous factors (chronic diseases and VI), policymakers should consider them when planning interventions (prioritizing optometry services and the early diagnosis of VI) for the aging population.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) on vision‑, related quality of life (VRQoL) among IRDs’,patients in Iran. Methods: This cross‑, sectional study was conducted on 192 patients with different types of IRDs who were randomly selected from registered patients in the Iranian National Registry for Inherited Retinal Dystrophy (IRDReg®, ). All ophthalmic findings were collected based on the recorded data in IRDReg®, . Moreover, the eligible participants were interviewed to fill out the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire‑, 25 (NEI VFQ‑, 25) to assess their VRQoL. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate the possible association of the different clinical and nonclinical factors such as demographic information, socioeconomic status, and visual function with VRQoL. Results: The overall mean of a composite score of VRQoL was 45. All subscales obtained from the NEI VFQ‑, 25 questionnaire except general health, mental health, and ocular pain had a significant negative correlation with logMAR best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and near visual acuity variables. There was a statistically significant relationship between VRQoL and factors like age (odds ratio [OR] = 0. 91, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0. 87–, 0. 94), employment status (OR = 1. 37, 95% CI: 1. 05–, 4. 74), logMAR BCVA (OR = 0. 31, 95% CI: 0. 19–, 0. 49) and normal color vision (OR = 1. 92, 95% CI: 1. 74–, 5. 01). Conclusion: The VRQoL of patients with IRDs in this study was low. BCVA could be an indicator to show VRQoL.