Abstract
PurposeFew population-based data support the hypothesis that refractive errors are associated with depressive symptoms. We aim to assess the impact of myopia on the risk of having depressive symptoms in a community-based cohort of elderly Chinese.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study of 4611 Chinese adults aged 60 years or older was conducted. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression scale in 4597 adults. Refraction was determined by auto-refraction followed by subjective refraction. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent (SE) < -0.50 diopters (D) and high myopia as SE < -6.00 D.ResultsAfter adjusting for age, gender, education, lifestyle-related exposures, presenting visual acuity and age-related cataract, myopic adults were more likely to have any depressive symptoms compared with non-myopic ones (odds ratio = 1.39; 95% confidence interval 1.04, 1.92). There were no significant differences in the risk of having any depressive symptoms between those with and without high myopia. Myopia or high myopia was not associated with having moderate depressive symptoms. The impact of myopia on depressive symptoms was stronger in adults with no formal education compared with those with formal education.ConclusionsMyopia was related with the presence of depressive symptoms among older adults.
Highlights
Myopia is a worldwide health problem[1], especially in Asians[2], and imposes heavy socioeconomic burdens on individuals, communities, and countries
After adjusting for age, gender, education, lifestyle-related exposures, presenting visual acuity and age-related cataract, myopic adults were more likely to have any depressive symptoms compared with non-myopic ones
Myopia or high myopia was not associated with having moderate depressive symptoms
Summary
Myopia is a worldwide health problem[1], especially in Asians[2], and imposes heavy socioeconomic burdens on individuals, communities, and countries. Previous studies have focused on the impact of myopia on other vision-threatening eye diseases[6], cognitive dysfunction[7], socioeconomic cost[8], and health-related quality of life[9]. Previous study has shown that depression is an important mental health problem in ophthalmological practice but is often unrecognized or untreated[12]. Visual impairment may isolate individuals from communicating with friends and family. Few population-based data support the hypothesis that myopia or other eye disorders are associated with the presence of depressive symptoms. We aim to assess the association of myopia with depressive symptoms in a community-based cohort of elderly Chinese people aged 60 years or older
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