Influence of painless one-eye blindness on depression, anxiety and quality of life in glaucoma patients with a normal fellow eye.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: For clinical practice it is important to evaluate and compare anxiety, depression and quality of life of glaucoma patients with painless one-eye blindness and a normal fellow eye to unaffected age-matched individuals from a similar environment. METHODS: Twenty-eight stable glaucoma patients (age, mean ± SD 69.0 ± 13.3 years) with one normal and one painless blind eye, and 26 controls (age 67.0 ± 14.0 years) completed the standard Hungarian adaptations of the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Spielberger-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Hopelessness Scale, and Quality of Life Questionnaire SF-36 with the assistance of trained psychologist interviewers within 3 months after a detailed ophthalmological examination. RESULTS: The groups did not differ in age, gender distribution, number of children, grandchildren and people in their household (p ≥ 0.235). The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the diseased eye was minimal (median 0.00), while BCVA of their better eye (median 1.0) did not differ from that of the control group (p ≥ 0.694). Compared to the control group, the patients' scores were significantly higher for depression (p ≤ 0.01), cognitive and psychophysiological symptoms of anxiety (p ≤ 0.05) and hopelessness (p ≤ 0.013), and lower (worse) for physical function, vitality, general health and bodily pain (p ≤ 0.045). No difference was found between the groups for mental health, physical role functioning, emotional role functioning and social role functioning (p ≥ 0.117). CONCLUSION: Our results show that patients with glaucoma-related one-eye blindness may require regular psychological support even when the visual performance of the fellow eye is fully maintained on the long run, and the patients' everyday functioning is normal.