Abstract
Purpose: :
To identify emotional distress in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients in order to evaluate its influence as a glaucoma risk factor
Methods: :
A prospective longitudinal study was carried out in 137 suitable participants of both sexes that were distributed into two groups: 1) POAG patients (GG; n=100), and 2) nonglaucomatous healthy individuals (CG; n=37). A standardized ophthalmologic examination was done, including optic disc retinography, visual field performance and ocular coherence tomography. Plasmatic serotonin (5-HT) levels were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The Stress Symptoms Emotional questionnaire and the Beck's Depression inventory were used to psychologically evaluate all participants. Statistical analysis was carried out by the SPSS 15.0.
Results: :
Median age in the GG was 61±11 years whereas in the CG was 55±9,5 years. There were significant differences between groups in optic nerve head morphologic/morphometric evaluation, visual field and OCT data. Glaucoma patients also differ in psychological disturbances and life-style from the CG, being the most frequent the moody, anxious, pessimistic, and hypochondriac trends. There were significant relationship between emotional distress and glaucoma degree and duration. The plasmatic 5-HT showed significantly lower values in the GG (146,18±82,37 ng/mL) than in the CG (294,44±104,89 ng/mL) (p<0,001). The 5-HT values inversely correlated with diverse potential risk factors for POAG progression (p<0,001; ANOVA).
Conclusions: :
The prevalence and disabling effects of emotional distress and depression in glaucoma patients are substantial for understanding differences in progression. Emotional trends must be considered in contributing to patient's visual and health-related quality of life.
Keywords: pathobiology • visual fields • neurotransmitters/neurotransmitter systems