Identifying the Content Area for the 51-Item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire

This study attempted to identify the content area for a questionnaire designed to measure vision-targeted health-related quality of life and to determine whether problems with vision-related functioning are qualitatively similar across different common eye diseases. The authors conclude that an item-generation strategy for a new questionnaire using a standardized focus group method identified content areas and aspects of visual disability that are not included in currently available vision-specific instruments that assess the impact of common eye diseases on visual functioning in everyday life. Although participants mentioned problems that were unique to their disease, across conditions the problems mentioned were similar. These findings provide empirical evidence of content validity for a vision-targeted, health-related quality of life survey designed for use across conditions.