Abstract
Purpose :
Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a maternally inherited mitochondrial disease characterized by severe bilateral visual impairment. The outbreak is more common in males and smoking is a known risk factor. We evaluated the tobacco and alcohol consumption habits and the quality of life among LHON affected and asymptomatic carriers in Sweden.
Methods :
25 chronic LHON subjects and 29 asymptomatic carriers were recruited through the Swedish LHON register. Participants responded to the following questionnaires, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) questionnaire for smoking and smokeless tobacco (snus) users, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and RAND 36 health related quality of life questionnaire. Reference responses were also obtained from 561 subjects with no eye diseases and 46 subjects with other eye diseases. Tobacco and alcohol dependency were calculated and categorized from the questionnaire responses.
Results :
The mean age was 50.3±20.0, 47.5±17.7, 47.4±18.3 and 55.3±17.2 years and the gender ratio (Male:Female) was 1.7:1, 1:2.6, 1:2.5 and 1:2.5 for LHON affected, asymptomatic carriers and reference groups with and without ocular diseases respectively. LHON affected group showed higher prevalence of smoking (20%) and snus usage (28%) compared to the other groups (3.6 to 6.9% smoking and 3.4 to 13.4% snus usage). Moderate to high dependency for smoking was seen in 40% and 50% of smokers in the LHON affected and asymptomatic carriers respectively. Moderate to very high dependency was seen in the majority of snus users (71.5 to 100%) in all groups. LHON affected group had a higher prevalence (24%) of harmful level of alcohol consumption or alcohol dependence compared to the other groups (8.7 to 14.2%). The general health perception score was similar among LHON affected, asymptomatic carriers and the group with other ocular diseases, and all these 3 groups had significantly lower scores compared to reference group without ocular disease (p<0.05). For the other domains from RAND 36, no significant differences were found between the LHON groups and reference groups.
Conclusions :
Higher prevalence of smoking and snus usage, tobacco dependency and alcohol dependency was seen among the LHON affected subjects. Compared to the reference group without ocular diseases general health perception was lower among both LHON affected and asymptomatic carriers.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.