Abstract
Purpose :
Depression is a serious and often under diagnosed medical condition in older people. Visual impairment increases the risk of depression to almost two-fold and it is prevalent in both glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients. This topic has not been extensively studied in patients with eye diseases especially in low-middle income countries. The purpose of this cross-sectional, case-control study was to compare depressive symptoms between primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and AMD Brazilian patients.
Methods :
Patients with AMD, POAG, and normal controls underwent a complete eye examination including measurement of best-corrected visual acuity, biomicroscopy, tonometry, eye fundus evaluation, and all participants answered the Portuguese short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). This is a 15-item questionnaire with binary answer (yes or no) and a cut-off value of 6/7 has an optimal balance between sensitivity and specificity. The summed score was compared among the three groups with the ANOVA test.
Results :
The sample comprised 48 patients with AMD, 56 with POAG, and 53 controls. All groups were matched for age, gender, ethnic distribution, and comorbidities. The mean score for AMD, POAG, and controls were 3.7 ± 2.9, 4.3 ± 2.8, and 2.4 ± 1.7, respectively (P = 0.006). More AMD patients (28.5%) presented scores >5 as compared to 25% of POAG patients, and only 3.3% of controls (P = 0.07).
Conclusions :
AMD and POAG patients are at higher risk for depression. This poses a challenge to Brazilian heathcare authorities and strategies to help patients maintain independence and good quality of life should target depression.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.