The Relationship Between Vision-Related Quality of Life Scores and Depression Symptoms in a Community-Based Glaucoma Screening Program

Abstract

Purpose : Individuals with glaucoma have been shown to be at an increased risk for depression, but studies exploring the relationship between depressive symptoms and vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) in this population are limited. By understanding aspects of visual impairment associated with depressive symptoms, resources may be allocated toward supportive and vision rehabilitation programs. We performed a cross-sectional study to learn if depressive symptoms are associated with aspects of VRQoL differently in glaucoma patients compared to glaucoma suspect patients who do not have glaucomatous visual field changes.

Methods : Two hundred sixty-eight patients diagnosed with glaucoma or glaucoma suspect were recruited from a community-based glaucoma screening program. Subjects were administered the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (VFQ-25) and the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15). Relationships between VFQ-25 and GDS-15 scores were evaluated both by Spearman's rank correlation coefficients and a multivariate negative binomial regression model. T-tests were used to evaluate differences between the glaucoma group and glaucoma suspect group.

Results : The mean GDS-15 score was 2.4±2.8 with no significant difference between the glaucoma group and the glaucoma suspect group (P=0.654). The mean composite VFQ-25 score was 78.6 ±15.9, with lower scores in the glaucoma group (74.7±19.7) than the glaucoma suspect group (80.4 ±13.6) (P=0.003). The negative binomial regression model revealed that the VFQ-25 subscales “General Health”, “Distance Activities”, and “Role Dependency” have a significant impact on GDS-15 scores. The VFQ-25 subscale with the strongest correlation to GDS-15 score was "Ocular Pain" (r = -0.526) within the glaucoma group and "General Health" (r = -0.437) within the glaucoma suspect group.

Conclusions : Depressive symptoms were more likely to be related to a poor VRQoL rather than a glaucoma diagnosis. While poor perceptions of general health were associated with depressive symptoms in both glaucoma and glaucoma suspect subjects, those with glaucoma also experienced eye pain and/or eye discomfort.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.