The Glau-U is a preference-based utility instrument developed using a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in a clinical sample of glaucoma patients. It is sensitive to disease severity and related visual impairment.
The Glau-U comprises 6 items that ask patients to rate their difficulty in six areas of QoL:
Activities of daily living
Lighting and glare
Movement
Eye discomfort
Other effects of glaucoma
and its treatment
Social and emotional effects
of glaucoma
The scores for these 6 items are converted to utilities using the utility weights determined by the DCE.
Glau-U can be used by researchers to assess health utilities associated with glaucoma and changes following treatment interventions.
It could also contribute to models investigating the cost-effectiveness associated with glaucoma treatments and inform health policies related to personnel, resources and funding allocated to end stage glaucoma, eye care and rehabilitation.
While the Glau-U may be applied in any country, the utility weights to convert the raw scores to utilities were generated based on a Singaporean population. As such, utilities generated in other countries or populations should be interpreted with caution.
Main Publication
Development and validation of the Glau-U
News story
Why is Glau-U important?