Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the factors related to anxiety and depression in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The status of anxiety and depression was determined in RP patients with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire which consisted of subscales for HADS-anxiety (HADS-A) and HADS-depression (HADS-D). The vision-specific quality of life (VSQOL) was assessed with the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (NEI-VFQ25). The correlations between the HADS-A or HADS-D scores and vision-related clinical parameters such as the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), Functional Acuity Score, Functional Field Score, Functional Vision Score, the NEI- VFQ25 subscale score were determined. The socioeconomic status, such as the work status and membership in the RP society, was investigated to determine the factors related to the HADS-A and HADS-D scores. One hundred and twelve RP patients (46 men and 66 women) with mean age of 60.7±15.4 (standard deviation) years were studied. The HADS-A score was not significantly correlated with any visual functions but was significantly correlated with the general health condition (r = -0.34, P<0.001) and the role limitation (r = -0.20, P = 0.03) of the NEI-VFQ25 subscale. The HADS-D score was significantly correlated with all the visual functions (r = -0.38 to 0.29, P<0.001), the NEI-VFQ25 subscale score (r = - 0.58 to -0.33, P<0.001) by Spearman’s correlations. The HADS-A score was significantly higher in the members of the RP society than in non-members (P = 0.013). The mean HADS-D score of employed individuals was significantly lower than that of unemployed ones (P = 0.001) by the Mann-Whitney U test. The results indicate that visual function impairments and vision-related quality of life are associated with a depressive state, and the general health condition is related to anxiety in RP patients. Being employed may be strongly correlated with the degree of depression in RP patients.
Highlights
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited, progressive ocular disease that is associated with degeneration of the photoreceptors
Our results showed that the percentage of RP patients with anxiety was 37% and that of depression was 26%
Chaumet-Riffaud et al reported that 36.5% of RP patients had anxiety and 15.5% had depression using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire [16]
Summary
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited, progressive ocular disease that is associated with degeneration of the photoreceptors. Because RP is a progressive disease and can lead to severe visual impairments, it can lead to severe psychological distress. Visual impairments are strongly associated with social issues such as employment and education. A recent report from France supported the idea that RP was closely related to social difficulties which can lead further mental health problems especially in younger patients [16]. To ameliorate these problems and to reduce the suffering of patients with RP, it is indispensable to know the factors that cause the mental health problems
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