Illness uncertainty, anxiety and depression in Chinese patients with glaucoma or cataract

Abstract

This study evaluated illness uncertainty, anxiety and depression among glaucoma patients and cataract patients in China. 263 patients with primary glaucoma and 100 patients with age-related cataract were recruited sequentially from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center between October 2013 and March 2016. All the participants completed questionnaires for socio-demographic information, Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (MUIS) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). 25 of the 263 glaucoma patients and 21 of the100 cataract patients finished two copies of the same questionnaires before and after surgery. Statistics were analyzed using SPSS17.0 software. We observed that glaucoma patients had higher MUIS and HADS score than did cataract patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated risk factors for illness uncertainty, anxiety and depression for glaucoma patients were high HADS score, poor visual acuity (VA) in the better eye and education level respectively. Risk factors for the same parameters of cataract patients were high HADS-A score, poor VA in the better eye and high illness uncertainty respectively. Scores of MUIS and HADS both decreased after surgery, but the change in HADS score among glaucoma patients was not significant. Clinical workers should take these factors into account to improve therapy, especially for glaucoma patients who undergo surgery.

Cataract and the increased risk of depression in general population: a 16-year nationwide population-based longitudinal study

“…Although some previous studies have evaluated the possible benefit of cataract surgery on depression 13 , 15 – 23 , the results are controversial as some of these studies indicated that the depressive symptoms did not improve after cataract surgery 13 , 21 , 22 . Moreover, most of these studies had follow-up periods of < 1 year 13 , 15 – 23 , and only one was a population based study 16 .…”

“…However, the impact of cataract surgery on depressive symptoms remains controversial. Some studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of cataract surgery on depression 15 – 20 , whereas others have suggested no remarkable impact 13 , 21 , 22 .…”

“…Depression in cataract patients is an important issue that lacks sufficient evidence. A majority of previous studies are restricted on account of having a cross-sectional design 12 , 22 , follow-up period less than 3 months 15 , 18 – 21 , sample size less than 100 13 , 15 , 18 , 21 , 22 , and single-institutional bias 15 , 18 – 20 , 22 . In the present study, we performed a nationwide population-based cohort study to examine (1) the long-term association between cataracts and the risk of developing depression and (2) the impact of cataract surgery on the risk of depression.…”

Coinheritance of OLFM2 and SIX6 variants in a Chinese family with juvenile-onset primary open-angle glaucoma: A case report

“…Although not systemically investigated, the impairment of synaptic connections between neurons within the retina and the brain can potentially affect structural and functional integrity of RGCs and their axons. Interestingly, it was shown that genetic mutant Olfm2 in mouse was associated with abnormal psychological phenotypes such as anxiety and reduced levels of exploratory and locomotor activities[ 18 ], while ours and various other studies have shown that psychological conditions such as anxiety are strongly connected with the incidence of POAG[ 19 - 21 ] likely through reduced retrograde axonal transport of neurotropic factors, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Taken together, OLFM2 is likely a candidate gene for POAG/JOAG.…”

Psychopharmacological Treatment, Intraocular Pressure and the Risk of Glaucoma: A Review of Literature

“…In case of patients with non-diagnosed OAG the raise in IOP can lead to severe aggravation of the disease, which can pass unnoticed until advanced stages [19]. On the other hand, glaucoma patients may exhibit a wide array of psychiatric symptoms, as a consequence of progression of vision loss, such as depression [20], anxiety [21] and insomnia [22].…”