Abstract
Purpose :
Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is characterised by visual hallucinations secondary to sight loss. Aside from sight loss, other risk factors associated with CBS include social isolation, loneliness, and post-traumatic stress. The health and lifestyle circumstances of visually impaired military veterans place this profile at an increased risk of developing CBS. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of CBS through an analysis of health records for members of a UK sight loss charity (Blind Veterans UK) and report experiences of CBS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods :
A retrospective analysis and screening/filtering of military veterans’ electronic membership records at Blind Veterans UK. Text analysis was used to identify CBS cases. A cross sectional survey of individuals with active CBS was used to measures patient-reported features of hallucinatory experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and perceived episode triggers.
Results :
Analysis was conducted on 4109 members of Blind Veterans UK. Following screening and exclusion of members with non-sight loss related hallucination risk factors (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease), 532 members were identified as CBS cases, representing 12.9% (95% CI: 11.1%-14.7%) of the cohort. Forty-five individuals with CBS completed the survey. Loneliness during the pandemic was associated with changes in the nature of visual hallucinations (p=0.04). Individuals experiencing greater loneliness were, on average, older than those with no changes to their feelings of loneliness (p=0.03). Despite experiencing greater feelings of loneliness (67%), most individuals had not accessed support services.
Conclusions :
The relative high prevalence of CBS among visually impaired military veterans indicates that this cohort may be at greater risk of the condition. Approximately half of survey respondents experienced exacerbation of visual hallucinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may partly be explained by loneliness and/or environmental triggers.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.