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Background: The aim of this study was to report the vision-related quality of life (QoL) in Pakistani subjects with early or moderate glaucoma., Methods: This case control study was conducted at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Pakistan, from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2015. All the patients having early or moderate glaucoma, with a disease duration of at least 6 mo, and presenting during the study period, were included. Subjects in the control group were recruited from the hospital volunteer staff, spouses and friends of patients. QoL assessment was done using the NEIVFQ25 questionnaire translated into the Urdu language. A two-tailed t-test was used to test the significance of difference between the mean QoL scores and a p-value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Multiple linear regression was carried out to assess the predictors of QoL scores., Results: A total of 698 participants were enrolled, including 247 cases and 451 controls. The mean QoL score was higher in controls 81.31 (mean=81.31, SD=26.33) than in cases (mean=53.89, SD=30.32), p<0.001. The lowest NEIVFQ-25 scores for glaucoma patients were for mental health (mean=23.88, SD=28.80) followed by general vision (mean=27.73, SD=29.74). The difference in all the mean subscale scores of two groups was statistically significant (p<0.001)., Conclusion: QoL scores are significantly reduced in Pakistani glaucoma patients with early and moderate glaucoma, with more pronounced effect on mental health and general vision.

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine if thalassemia patients were getting quality care in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan, as per international standards and to identify determinants for better quality of thalassemia care.Design: A cross sectional study was conducted using interview based structured questionnaire, which was developed using standards of thalassemia care used by International Thalassemia Foundation.Setting: Five healthcare facilities catering to the needs of thalassemia patients in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.Participants: Data were collected from 315 thalassemia patients from May to August, 2016.Main Outcome Measure: Survey data on quality indicators.Results: Results showed that almost half of thalassemia patients (48.5%) were getting poor quality of care. On average patients were getting only 63.93% of possible quality care for the disease. The most deficient quality area was management of complications where patients were getting only 49.1% of possible care. Better quality of care was likely to be received by those patients who were educated, patients with educated fathers, those visiting private facilities and those who were visiting facilities in Islamabad. Those with concomitant diseases were also likely to receive better care.Conclusion: Quality of care provided to thalassemia patients was well below the international standards for the care of thalassemia. There is a need to take urgent action to improve quality of care in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]