Assessing the validity and reliability of the Effects of Youngsters' Eyesight on Quality of Life (EYE-Q) questionnaire among children with uveitis

Psychosocial Well-Being and Quality of Life in Uveitis: A Review

PURPOSE

As a potentially sight-threatening disease with ocular, systemic, and treatment-related complications, uveitis diminishes quality of life (QOL) and affects psychosocial well-being. This review summarizes the existing tools for evaluating psychosocial well-being and/or QOL in patients with uveitis, explores the biological and non-biological factors affecting psychosocial well-being and/or QOL, and proposes future directions for incorporating these tools into clinical practice.

METHODS

A systematic search of the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases from inception to June 8, 2022 was conducted, screening for articles focused on psychosocial well-being and/or QOL in patients with uveitis. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed.

RESULTS

In uveitis research, the most frequently studied patient-reported outcome measures were vision-related QOL (e.g. Visual Function Questionnaire [VFQ-25]) and health-related QOL (e.g. Short Form Survey [SF-36]), followed by mental health indicators including depression and anxiety. Instruments have also been developed specific to the pediatric population (e.g. Effects of Youngsters' Eyesight on Quality of Life [EYE-Q]). Generally, studies report worse psychosocial outcomes and QOL in patients with uveitis compared to the general population. Contributory factors include both clinical (e.g. visual impairment, ocular comorbidities) and patient-related (e.g. older age, female sex) factors.

CONCLUSION

Given the heterogeneity of instruments used, it is worth considering standardization across large uveitis studies and trials. Beyond research, given the biopsychosocial effects on patients with uveitis, there are benefits to incorporating QOL and psychosocial assessments into clinical practice. Simplification of questionnaires into abridged forms, focusing on the most clinically relevant aspects of patient care, may be considered.

Temporal Trends in Childhood Uveitis: Using Administrative Health Data to Investigate the Impact of Health Policy and Clinical Practice

BACKGROUND

We describe an investigation of temporal trends in the incidence of childhood uveitis-related hospital admissions, hospitalization being a robust indicator of disease severity.

METHODS

A population-based retrospective study using a hospitalization database, the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) dataset, capturing data on care between 2013 and 2020. Primary outcomes were rates of pediatric hospital admissions for uveitis-related disorders.

RESULTS

During the study period, there were 3,258 reported uveitis-related hospital admissions of children aged 0 to 14 years, comprising 19% of all-age uveitis-related admissions. Anterior uveitis was the most common diagnosis. The annual incidence of childhood uveitis-related hospitalizations declined year on year from a peak incidence of 5.4 per 100,000 children (95% confidence interval 5.0-5.9) in 2015-2016 to 3.3 per 100,000 (95% CI 3.0-3.6) in 2019-2020. Over the same period, the national incidence of juvenile arthropathy-related admissions stayed stable.

CONCLUSION

The decline in admissions nationally may reflect reduced incidence of uveitis complications with increasing use of immunosuppressive therapies.

Comprehensive Assessment of Quality of Life, Functioning, and Mental Health in Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Noninfectious Uveitis

OBJECTIVE

Pediatric uveitis can lead to sight-threatening complications and can impact quality of life (QoL) and functioning. We aimed to examine health-related QoL, mental health, physical disability, vision-related functioning (VRF), and vision-related QoL in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), JIA-associated uveitis (JIA-U), and other noninfectious uveitis. We hypothesized that there will be differences based on the presence of eye disease.

METHODS

A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted at four sites. Patients with JIA, JIA-U, or noninfectious uveitis were enrolled. Patients and parents completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL; health-related QoL), the Revised Childhood Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS; anxiety/depression), the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (C-HAQ; physical disability), and the Effects of Youngsters' Eyesight on Quality of Life (EYE-Q) (VRF/vision-related QoL). Clinical characteristics and patient-reported outcome measures were compared by diagnosis.

RESULTS

Of 549 patients, 332 had JIA, 124 had JIA-U, and 93 had other uveitis diagnoses. Children with JIA-U had worse EYE-Q scores compared to those with JIA only. In children with uveitis, those with anterior uveitis (JIA-U and uveitis only) had less ocular complications, better EYE-Q scores, and worse C-HAQ and PedsQL physical summary scores compared to those with nonanterior disease. In children with anterior uveitis, those with JIA-U had worse PedsQL physical summary and C-HAQ scores than anterior uveitis only. Further, EYE-Q scores were worse in children with bilateral uveitis and more visual impairment. There were no differences in RCADS scores among groups.

CONCLUSION

We provide a comprehensive outcome assessment of children with JIA, JIA-U, and other uveitis diagnoses. Differences in QoL and function were noted based on underlying disease. Our results support the addition of a vision-specific measure to better understand the impact of uveitis.

Development of a Nationally Agreed Core Clinical Dataset for Childhood Onset Uveitis

Background

Childhood onset uveitis comprises a group of rare inflammatory disorders characterized by clinical heterogeneity, chronicity, and uncertainties around long term outcomes. Standardized, detailed datasets with harmonized clinical definitions and terminology are needed to enable the clinical research necessary to stratify disease phenotype and interrogate the putative determinants of health outcomes. We aimed to develop a core routine clinical collection dataset for clinicians managing children with uveitis, suitable for multicenter and national clinical and experimental research initiatives.

Methods

Development of the dataset was undertaken in three phases: phase 1, a rapid review of published datasets used in clinical research studies; phase 2, a scoping review of disease or drug registries, national cohort studies and core outcome sets; and phase 3, a survey of members of a multicenter clinical network of specialists. Phases 1 and 2 provided candidates for a long list of variables for the dataset. In Phase 3, members of the UK's national network of stakeholder clinicians who manage childhood uveitis (the Pediatric Ocular Inflammation Group) were invited to select from this long-list their essential items for the core clinical dataset, to identify any omissions, and to support or revise the clinical definitions. Variables which met a threshold of at least 95% agreement were selected for inclusion in the core clinical dataset.

Results

The reviews identified 42 relevant studies, and 9 disease or drug registries. In total, 138 discrete items were identified as candidates for the long-list. Of the 41 specialists invited to take part in the survey, 31 responded (response rate 78%). The survey resulted in inclusion of 89 data items within the final core dataset: 81 items to be collected at the first visit, and 64 items at follow up visits.

Discussion

We report development of a novel consensus core clinical dataset for the routine collection of clinical data for children diagnosed with non-infectious uveitis. The development of the dataset will provide a standardized approach to data capture able to support observational clinical studies embedded within routine clinical care and electronic patient record capture. It will be validated through a national prospective cohort study, the Uveitis in childhood prospective national cohort study (UNICORNS).

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is an umbrella term for arthritis of unknown origin, lasting for >6 weeks with onset before 16 years of age. JIA is the most common chronic inflammatory rheumatic condition of childhood. According to the International League Against Rheumatism (ILAR) classification, seven mutually exclusive categories of JIA exist based on disease manifestations during the first 6 months of disease. Although the ILAR classification has been useful to foster research, it has been criticized mainly as it does not distinguish those forms of chronic arthritis observed in adults and in children from those that may be unique to childhood. Hence, efforts to provide a new evidence-based classification are ongoing. Similar to arthritis observed in adults, pathogenesis involves autoimmune and autoinflammatory mechanisms. The field has witnessed a remarkable improvement in therapeutic possibilities of JIA owing to the availability of new potent drugs and the possibility to perform controlled trials with support from legislative interventions and large networks availability. The goal of drug therapy in JIA is to rapidly reduce disease activity to inactive disease or clinical remission, minimize drug side effects and achieve a quality of life comparable to that of healthy peers. As JIA can influence all aspects of a child's and their family's life, researchers increasingly recognize improvement of health-related quality of life as a key treatment goal.