Psychosocial Impact of Childhood Glaucoma

Childhood glaucoma affects more than just vision. It has a profound impact on patients’ psychological, social, and functional well-being, starting in childhood and continuing into adulthood. This extends to the parents, guardians, and other caregivers who assist in the care of pediatric glaucoma. Measuring this impact has become an important focus of recent research. There are now several published studies that have examined the effects of pediatric glaucoma on quality of life, which will be laid out in this chapter. Key findings are that the burden of chronic disease management takes a significant toll on the quality of life, and this toll is regularly higher for parents of children with pediatric glaucoma than for the children themselves. In fact, pediatric glaucoma often has a larger effect on psychosocial well-being than on physical health. Unfortunately, the field of studying the quality of life in pediatric glaucoma is young and somewhat limited by the rarity of the disease and the limited tools available for measuring the quality of life in children. However, the existing data should prompt clinicians to consider the psychosocial impact of pediatric glaucoma as they approach patient care. Efforts are underway to develop and utilize more appropriate and specific quality of life measurement tools in pediatric glaucoma.