Table 6.
Impact on quality of life.
| Patients | |
|---|---|
| Reading | |
| Stop reading | 40% |
| “I’m no longer able to read or write”; “Unfortunately I don’t read anymore”; “Surely I cannot read anymore. I read well the first lines, and then I start seeing them blurred, and I feel disoriented”; “I gave up reading, Books were my life!” | |
| I can hardly read | 44% |
| “Now I’m hardly reading at all, but I react tackling”; “I don’t read fast as I used to, I have read | |
| slowly because of this distortion”; “I can’t read for more than ten minutes”; “My ability to read has decreased, and it’s a pity, reading has always been my passion; I’m hardly reading now”. | |
| I can read | 16% |
| “I still read pretty well”; “I use glasses for reading”; “I read really well even at distance”; “I read, and I do crossword puzzles”; “I read and I write books” | |
| Driving | |
| I’ve stopped driving | 26% |
| “Now I don’t have the driving licence, and this fact bothers me”; “I can’t drive anymore”; “For caution, I decided to not drive anymore”; “I was worried I couldn’t drive and watch television anymore, but my family didn’t understand” | |
| I drive less, or only in particular conditions | 48% |
| “I drive, but hardly, especially by night”; “I drive, but I don’t certain grey days, if it’s raining, or by night, because I’m confused”; “It’s very difficult for me driving by night”; “I don’t drive to go far away”; “I don’t drive by night, and if I have to, I do it very carefully”. | |
| I drive | 15% |
| “I drive both motorcycle and car without any problem”; “No problem, I drive”; “I drive, even by night” | |
| I drive, but I’m worried for the driving licence | 11% |
| “As for driving, I do, because I still see pretty clearly with this eye. Maculopathy worries me, because now I should do again the driving licence and I don’t know if I reach the necessary 8/10”; “Sometimes I think that if the situation goes on this way, in 4-5 years I will not be able to drive”. | |
| Household environment | |
|
Compensative strategies “At home I feel safer because I know where things are”; “Even if I can’t read very well, I still can cook and take care of my home” Surrender behaviour “ Now I also have difficulties in finding my things at home, so I had to find someone else to clean the house” |
|
| Environment outside home | |
| “ I rarely go out because I don’t feel safe”; “My children hired a lady who accompany me for a walk everyday” |