Visual Acuity May Inadequately Reflect the Vision-related Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Chorioretinopathy Centralis Serosa

Purpose To evaluate the vision-related quality of life (VRQL) of patients with chronic chorioretinopathy centralis serosa (CCS). Patients and methods A prospective study included patients who visited our Department of Ophthalmology due to their chronic CCS and were asked to complete “The National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire NEI-VFQ-39”. Similarly, controls without any signs of macular disease were asked to complete the same questionnaire. Results A total of 75 participants were included: 45 with chronic CCS and 30 as a control group. In the CCS group, 4 patients (% 9) had chronic CCS in both eyes. The mean age (years) was 52 ± 10 in the CCS group compared to 52 ± 11 in the control group (p = 0.90). In the CCS group, 33 patients were men (73%), compared to 21 (70%) in the control group (p = 0.75). Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA, logMAR) was 0.05 ± 0.08 in the CCS group and 0.03 ± 0.06 in the control group (p = 0.50). The overall score of VRQL was significantly lower in the CCS group than in the control group (77 ± 11 vs. 89 ± 7, p = 0.0001). Similarly, there were also significantly lower scores in the CCS group for other subscales, such as near and distance activities, dependence on others, mental health, social functioning, driving, social role impairment, and peripheral vision (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding eye pain and colour vision. In the CCS group, there was no statistically significant correlation between the total score of VRQL and age or gender of the patients, BCVA or duration of the disease (p > 0.05). Conclusion Although the BCVA was not significantly different between the CCS and control groups, patients with chronic CCS had a significantly lower total NEI-VFQ score. This suggests that the BCVA alone might not provide an adequate assessment of VRQL in patients with CCS.