Abstract
Purpose :
To examine the perceived stress in adult patients with uveitis, a sight-threatening ocular disease, and its association with anatomic location, etiology, age, and visual acuity.
Methods :
173 adult uveitis patients were asked for the perceived stress according to the perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ-20 J2: past two years and PSQ-20 W4: past four weeks). Stress levels were classified into normal stress, moderate stress, and high stress.
Results :
Most uveitis patients had a normal stress level (82%). 16-18% were moderately stressed and 1-2% were highly stressed. Perceived stress was not associated with the anatomic location and the etiology of uveitis (p=0.667 and p=0.436, respectively). It was significantly associated with the age of uveitis patients (p<0.001) and was highest at ages between 25 and 64 years, followed by 18-24 years. Significantly lowest perceived stress was found in the oldest age group (≥65 years). The external perceived stress parameter "demands" was significantly associated with visual acuity (p<0.001).
Conclusions :
18% of the uveitis patient had raised perceived stress, especially in younger patients and independently of anatomic location and etiology. Therefore, psychosomatic aspects may be important in the therapy of uveitis patients.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.