The patient-centred impact of vision loss and eye diseases in Singapore: Current evidence, limitations and future research. About the Speaker: Dr Fenwick is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne. She currently holds a National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship and will complete two years of this Fellowship at SERI from July 2015-2017. Dr Fenwick’s PhD work developed and validated a sophisticated diabetic retinopathy quality of life item bank. Her research interests include patient-centred outcomes research and modern psychometric theory in eye diseases, particularly in diabetic retinopathy. She has also published widely in other areas of health services research, including the quality of life impact of eye diseases and vision impairment; risk factors associated with development and progression of eye diseases; and the effectiveness of behavioural interventions aimed at improving quality of life, mental health and behavioural outcomes in ophthalmology. She has also initiated novel projects in the development and validation of The Diabetic Retinopathy Health Literacy Scale, and The Impact of Vision Impairment in Residential Care questionnaire. Abstract: People with visual impairment have impaired social functioning, lower levels of participation in daily activities and social roles, reduced quality of life (QoL), and increased anxiety, emotional distress and depressive symptoms. Eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy (DR), glaucoma, agerelated macular degeneration and cataract have also been independently associated with reduced visual functioning and QoL. Evidence from the Singapore Malay Eye Study and related work suggests that people with severe visual impairment are 3.5 and 13.6 times more likely to have moderate and poor vision function, respectively. Similarly, visual function is significantly reduced in patients with DR, glaucoma and cataract, particularly at the advanced stages. However, a more holistic understanding of the QoL impact of vision loss and eye diseases is lacking in Singaporean populations. This is because previous work has used visual functioning questionnaires which measure only one aspect of QoL. However, QoL is a complex concept that encompasses functional ability, symptoms, emotional well-being, social relationships, concerns and convenience as they are affected by vision. This presentation will report on some new findings from current studies at SERI on the impact of vision loss and eye diseases on QoL using the Impact of Vision Impairment questionnaire. Future research in Singapore will focus on developing item banks for DR and glaucoma to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of these diseases on all aspects of QoL. All are Welcome! Thursday 19th March 2015 1.00pm – 2.00pm Level 6, Discovery Tower, The Academia SGH-AC-6-2 Chairperson Prof Ecosse Lamoureux