Abstract
Purpose :
Central serous retinopathy (CSR) is characterized by macular detachment due to hyperpermeable retinal pigment epithelium and choroid mostly affecting young men under perceived stress. While most previous studies have been retrospective and have focused on a single facet of the patient’s personality, we conducted a prospective multicenter/multinational controlled study to dissect the multifaceted personality profile in CSR.
Methods :
The authors themselves interviewed CSR patients and control patients without retinal disease from November 2014 to October 2015 using a long questionnaire in clinic setting. Controls were matched for age, gender and race across 3 continents. Statistical analyses were done using bivariate analysis (Chi-square at the 95% confidence interval) on SPSS Software (v. 22).
Results :
64 consecutive CSR patients (mean age 46; male 78.1%) and 66 controls (mean age 44.9; male 78.8%) were analyzed for 59 variables. The results were divided into 3 categories according to strength of the association.
Very strong associations included type A personality (p<0.001), obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (p<0.001); aggressive behavior (p<0.001); presence of continuous stressful conditions (p<0.001), history of premature ejaculation (p<0.001); irritable bowel syndrome (p= 0.002); use of drugs for erectile dysfunction (p=0.005); history of sinusitis (p=0.006). Strong associations were found with penile erection disorder (0.012); workaholic (p=0.013); sleep disturbance (p=0.019); history of panic attacks (p=0.026); tendonitis (p=0.038). Borderline associations were found with phobia (0.062); migraine (p= 0.074), tachycardia (p=0.064), obesity (0.078), gastro-esophageal reflux disease (0.083) and polycystic ovarian syndrome (0.087).
Conclusions :
This prospective controlled multicenter study carried by the treating ophthalmologists sheds a new light on the unique personality of CSR patients: obsessive compulsive, aggressive, under continuous stress, prone to panic attacks and with various sexual disturbances. Ophthalmologists treating these patients should be aware of the other characteristics of this syndrome in order to be able to refer the patients with CSR to appropriate specialists when need arises. CSR should raise the attention for other systemic issues.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.