Do Demographic Factors Influence Uveitis Patients' Understanding of Uveitis?

PURPOSE: To establish how much uveitis patients know about their own condition and to investigate the contribution of demographic factors to that knowledge.

METHODS: A self-designed questionnaire, comprising 20 questions about uveitis, was distributed to 200 consecutive patients attending a uveitis clinic. The questionnaire requested demographic details and required responses to uveitis-specific knowledge questions. Postcode was used to determine level of social deprivation using Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007. Univariate analyses with the Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test were utilized. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to simultaneously measure the independent influence of demographic variables on the level of patients' understanding of their condition.

RESULTS: Of the respondents, 62% were female, 71% aged >40 years and 67% of white ethnic origin, with 41% having been under the care of a uveitis specialist for >10 years and 72% attending ≥3 clinic appointments in the preceding 12 months. Median questionnaire score (out of 60) was 27 (interquartile range, IQR 15). Females scored significantly higher than males (30 vs 24; p = 0.001), but there was no difference according to age, ethnicity, or social deprivation quintile, nor the duration patients had been under ophthalmic review or number of clinic attendances in the preceding 12 months. Multivariable analyses determined no independent influence of any of the factors on the uveitis questionnaire score.

CONCLUSIONS: Uveitis patients' understanding of their condition is poor. This has relevance for adherence to treatment, follow-up clinic attendance, and eventual outcomes in these patients.