A confirmatory factor analysis for the Dutch Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire in people with multiple sclerosis.

Background: The Screening Visual Complaints questionnaire (SVCq; Huizinga 2020) has been developed to screen for visual complaints of people with a neurodegenerative disease, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The main body of the questionnaire consists of 19 items that describe visual complaints, such as blurry vision, altered color vision or being blinded by bright light. The SVCq showed good psychometric properties in a healthy population and a factor analysis revealed a good fitting one factor model (all items comprised in 1 model), three factor model (diminished visual perception, altered visual perception and ocular discomfort) and five factor model, dividing diminished visual perception in three separate factors (function related, luminance related, task related).
Objectives: The main objective of the study was to investigate the three models to see if the SVCq and its factors may be a suitable instrument to assess visual complaints in people with MS. We also explored the use of the SVCq in clinical care.
Methods: We performed confirmatory factor analyses on the SVCq in a representative cohort of people with MS (n = 493) to investigate the fit of the three potential models. LISREL 8.8 was used to perform to analysis in.
Results: The three models all showed a good fit. However, the five factor model outperformed both models and the three factor model outperformed the one factor model, showing that the use of the factors has merit.
Conclusions: The SVCq is a suitable instrument to assess visual complaints in people with MS. The one factor model provides a quick overview of the presence and severity of visual complaints. Using the three factor or five factor model may provide guidance for patients and physicians in determining the further care or rehabilitation in the case of visual complaints.