Abstract
Purpose :
Several studies have shown a negative impact of cataract on the psychological health of older people, which predispose to lack of autonomy of these subjects.This study aimed to evaluate the anxiety and depression status in patients age ≥50 years with clinically significant cataract.
Methods :
Cross-sectional study carried out from November 2014 to July 2015,including 391 patients ≥50 years of age with clinically significant cataract. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) that includes 14 items and 2 subscales (anxiety and depression) was used to assess these conditions.The score ranges from 0 to 21 for each subscale,and anxiety and depression symptoms (independently) were classified as follows:without (score, 0-7 and 0-8, respectively),borderline (score, 8-10 and 7-10, respectively),and presence of each condition (score for both, 11-21).Additionally,information about health self-perception and chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension was obtained.All analyses were performed using Stata 13.
Results :
Of 391 patients (242 women and 149 men; average age 71.6 years, S.D. 10.2),227 had moderate/severe visual impairment and 164 were blind.Borderline anxiety was present in 8.5% of patients and anxiety in 5%,whereas borderline depression was present in 10.9% of patients and depression in 3.0%.Anxiety and depression were more frequent in patients age ≥70 years than in younger ones (27.7% and 20.4%, respectively) and in patients with blindness compared with those with moderate/severe visual impairment (30.5% and 20.3%, respectively).In multiple logistic regression analyses, separately, anxiety (OR=1.79, 95%IC 1.05-3.07, p=0.033) but not depression was associated with blindness (OR=1.53, 95%IC 0.88-2.66, p=0.129) after adjustment for age, sex, and health self-perception.Finally,the presence of anxiety or depression was significantly associated with age (OR=1.03, 95%IC 1.00-1.05, p=0.009), sex (OR=1.92, IC95% 1.13–3.26, p=0.016),poor health self-perception (OR=2.00, 95%IC95% 1.42–2.82, p=0.0001),and blindness (OR=1.68, 95%IC 1.03-2.74, p=0.036).
Conclusions :
The main factors for both anxiety and depression in subjects with cataract were age, sex, health self-perception, and blindness.Visual impairment and blindness in patients with cataract is preventable; therefore, earlier psychotherapeutic interventions should be implemented to prevent or reverse symptoms of anxiety and depression in these patients.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.