Different forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can lead to massive visual impairment up to blindness. Therefore, AMD has a high impact on patients' daily life and causes restrictions of their psychological well-being, autonomy and mobility. These restrictions influence their quality of life. It is difficult to define the term "quality of life". It consists of different aspects that can be measured with psychometric tests. Besides the general health status and the psychological well-being, the vision-specific functional status plays a central role for determining the quality of life of AMD patients. To compare the impact of different diseases on the quality of life, the utility analysis has been developed. It demonstrates the relevance of AMD for patients and shows that its impact on patients' life is comparable to those of other systemic diseases like carcinoma or HIV. The impairment of patients' quality of life by AMD is often underestimated by their attending ophthalmologists. Different medical treatments have influenced the quality of life of AMD patients. However, there is still a large group that cannot be treated. These patients benefit from rehabilitation with low vision aids or psychosocial interventions. Further clinical trials at a high evidence level using valid and comparable psychometric tests are necessary to improve the therapy for and the rehabilitation of AMD patients and to increase their quality of life.
