Table 5.

Instruments used to evaluate quality of life in astigmatic patients with cataract

Instrument	Summary
NEI RQL-42	This is a 42-item questionnaire that measures patients’ satisfaction with distance vision, clarity of vision, and severity and frequency of glare symptoms, along with the need for spectacles. The scale ranges 0–100, with higher scores indicating better QoL and less dependence on corrective wear (such as spectacles or contact lenses).
VISTAS questionnaire	The questionnaire has three sections. Section I has questions related to subjective experience with tasks at a range of distances with and without corrective wear. The near-task section comprises ten questions to assess visual acuity less than 50 cm from the patient. The intermediate-task section comprises 12 questions to assess the patient’s vision at distances of 50–90 cm. The near-distance-task section comprises 13 questions to assess the patient’s vision from 90 cm to 4 m. The distance-task section comprises 15 questions to assess vision from more than 4 m away. Section II of the questionnaire evaluates the patient’s use of corrective wear and reliance on it. Section III of the questionnaire evaluates vision without corrective wear, and includes an assessment of patient satisfaction for daytime and nighttime vision. Potential responses for section I of the questionnaire are 1= no difficulty, 2= minor difficulty, 3= moderate difficulty, 4= major difficulty, 5= cannot accomplish, and 6= not applicable. A response of “not applicable” could be selected if participants did not perform a task for reasons other than poor vision or if corrective wear was not worn for the task. Responses for section II, assessing use of corrective wear, are “none of the time”, “some of the time”, “half of the time”, “most of the time”, and “all the time”.
VF-14	The VF-14 is a brief questionnaire designed to measure functional impairment on patients due to cataract. It consists of 18 questions covering 14 aspects of visual function affected by cataracts.

Abbreviations: NEI RQL-42, National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of Life; VF, Visual Function (index); QoL, quality of life; VISTAS, Visual Tasks Difficulty Assessment.