Quantitative analyses of factors related to anxiety and depression in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

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.