The Adverse Impact of Glaucoma on Psychological Function and Daily Physical Activity.

Wenbin Huang,Mengyin Liang,Yaoming Liu,Xiulan Zhang,Kai Gao

doi:10.1155/2020/9606420

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the impact of glaucoma on vision-related quality of life and physical activity. Methods This study included 50 glaucoma patients and 50 healthy control subjects. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from all subjects. A Chinese version of the NEI VFQ-25 was used to evaluate the quality of life. Objective physical activity was assessed by wearing an accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Results No significant difference was found in sociodemographic data between the two groups (all p < 0.05). Visual acuity and visual field scores were worse in the glaucoma group than in the control group (all p < 0.001). The VFQ-25 scores indicated significantly lower scores for ocular pain, social function, mental health, role difficulties, and color vision in the glaucoma group than in the normal group (all p < 0.05). The average daily step count was lower in the glaucoma group than in the normal group. High, moderate, and low average daily step counts in the glaucoma group were associated with early-, moderate-, and advanced-stage glaucoma, respectively, while the step count was significantly lower in the advanced-stage glaucoma group than in the control group (p=0.037). A positive relationship was found between the average daily step count and social function and mental health (both p < 0.05). Conclusions We demonstrated an adverse impact of glaucoma on psychological function and daily physical activity. Social function and mental health showed declines in glaucoma patients, and physical activity was limited in patients with advanced-stage glaucoma.

Highlights

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that can cause severe visual impairment and even blindness
intraocular pressure (IOP) was significantly higher in the glaucoma group, while visual acuity (VA) and visual field (VF) were worse in the glaucoma group than in the control group
VFQ-25 Scores. e mean scores of each VFQ-25 subscale are shown in Figure 1, ranging from 49.48 for general health to 95.4 for color vision in the glaucoma group and ranging from 46.35 for general health to 99.47 for color vision in the normal group. e mean composite score was significantly lower in the glaucoma group than in the normal group (82.07 vs. 89.21, p 0.005). e analysis on each subscale score between the two groups revealed no significant differences in the scores for general health, general vision, near activity, distance activity, dependency, driving, and peripheral vision, whereas the scores for ocular pain, social function, mental health, role difficulties, and color vision were significantly lower in the glaucoma group than in the normal group

Summary

Introduction

Glaucoma is a chronic disease that can cause severe visual impairment and even blindness. Previous studies have determined that glaucoma has a significant negative impact on the psychological, social, and emotional functioning and can leave affected persons with anxiety, poor self-image, poor psychological well-being, and reduced confidence in health care [1]. Physical activity is an important part of the human lifestyle for maintaining and improving quality of life and mental health, and several studies have found positive effects of physical activity on the quality of life of patients with chronic diseases and advanced cancer. A physical exercise intervention study on cancer survivors conducted by Valenti et al [4] found that jogging, brisk walking, cycling, and other moderate physical activities can reduce the body pain of survivors, help relieve psychological stress, enhance physical, psychological, and emotional function, and significantly improve the overall quality of life.

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Conclusion