Age-related macular degeneration and its effect on quality of life

I was interested to read the review article on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by Tariq Ayoub and Nishal Patel.1 While the article discussed in great detail the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of AMD, the authors failed to mention the effect of all this on a patient's quality of life, thus supporting the findings of Stein et al.2 that clinicians undervalue or are not well aware of the broad impact of AMD on health-related quality of life. In fact, there is significant evidence that AMD reduces quality of life3 and that in severe forms of the disease this is comparable to a patient with end-stage prostate cancer.4 Furthermore, measures of quality of life, e.g. MacDQoL,5 can be (and have been) used as outcome measures to determine the effectiveness of various interventions, including many mentioned in the review article.