Anxiety and Depression in Glaucoma Patients and its Correlations with Vision-related Quality of Life and Objective Visual Function Indices

Abstract

Background: To investigate anxiety and depression in glaucoma patients and its correlations with vision-related quality of life (VR-QoL) and objective visual function indices.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) questionnaires were administered to 446 Chinese glaucoma patients to assess their psychological disorders, namely anxiety and depression, and VR-QoL, respectively. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected at the same time. Multivariate linear regression analysis was carried out to investigate the associations between VR-QoL, visual function indices and psychological disorders. Standardized partial regression analysis was used to identify the variable mostly indicative in evaluating psychological burdens. Results: The prevalence of anxiety and depression in Chinese glaucoma patients was 12.11% and 25.78%, respectively. Most of the subscales and the composite score of NEI VFQ-25 were negatively associated with each of anxiety and depression after adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical variables. For visual function indices, only the best corrected visual acuity of both eyes was correlated with anxiety after adjustment. Standardized partial regression analysis further showed VR-QoL but not the objective visual function indices mostly relevant to psychological disturbances. Conclusions: Anxiety and depression were common in Chinese glaucoma patients. Self-reported VR-QoL was beneficial in assessing glaucoma patients’ psychological disorders, while objective visual function indices provide little hint on it.