Background: The assessment of quality of life plays an increasing role in ophthalmology. Standardized questionnaires such as the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) are useful instruments to evaluate the impact of ophthalmological diseases on the quality of life in adults. In children and infants, different instruments are needed, partly because of the changing developmental stages with age. Felius and colleagues developed a questionnaire to assess the quality of life in young children with visual impairment, the Children's Visual Function Questionnaire (CVFQ). It was validated in the United States. Our aim was to translate and adapt the questionnaire to make it applicable for the German-speaking countries.
Methods: Two independent groups in the ophthalmology departments of the University of Frankfurt and the University of Freiburg translated the questionnaire into German. In cooperation with the authors of the CVFQ, a consensus adaptation was created, which was then reexamined by the two German groups to establish the adaptation presented here.
Results: The German adaptation, like the original instrument, exists in two versions, one for infants and children <3 years of age and one for children > or =3 years. Besides vision and general health, the questionnaire assesses the following quality-of-life domains: competence, personality, family impact, and treatment. The first data for patients with an ophthalmological diagnosis (amblyopia and occlusion treatment, and aphakia with contact lens treatment) were collected and compared with data of children without visual impairment.
Conclusion: The translated CVFQ provides an instrument for those in German-speaking countries to assess the quality of life in visually impaired children. The data sample shows its applicability for assessing the influence of diseases of the visual system and their treatment on the patients' and families' lives.