Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect quality of life of patients newly diagnosed with intra-cranial hypertension?
Reviewed by Claire Howard

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. This article aimed to explore how the care of patients with idiopathic intra-cranial hypertension (IIH) was affected during the COVID-19 lockdown. The main aim was to assess Quality of Life (QOL) in patients with IIH diagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The QOL scores of patients with severely impaired visual function were compared with the ones showing less severe visual impairment. Thirty IIH patients admitted to hospital during the pandemic were included and evaluated. The World Health Organization – Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5), the EUROHIS Quality of Life (QOL) eight-item index, National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6), and COVID-19 Fear Scale were used to assess QOL and pandemic-associated fear. Thirty age, sex, and body mass index matched volunteers were compared as a control group. Apart from the COVID-19 Fear Scale and colour vision subscale of the NEI-VFQ-25, all scale scores were worse in IIH patients than in healthy control subjects. Patients with severe visual field defects had higher HIT-6 scores (p = .036). Both vision specific and overall QOL was reduced in patients with IIH. Headache sclaieverity and disability were more prominent in patients with severe visual loss. Fear caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was not different in IIH patients than in healthy control subjects.

Quality of life in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Çelebisoy N, Ayşın Kısabay AK, Nezih Özdemir H, et al.
NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY
2022;46(5):283-9.