Research Report on Anxiety and Glaucoma

According to a recent research report, patients with anxiety showed faster rates of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) decline, as measured by OCT.

Glaucoma is optic neuropathy characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells. There is currently no effective treatment for ganglion cell degeneration, and the treatment of glaucoma is focused on preventing progression. Therefore, glaucoma is considered a chronic disease that requires lifelong management.

With this background, researchers investigated the association of anxiety and depression with glaucoma progression, and elucidated mechanisms underlying that. They included 251 eyes with open angle glaucoma who were followed up for at least 2 years in this retrospective case–control study. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depressive Inventory-II (BDI-II) were used to assess anxiety and depression in glaucoma patients. Patients were classified into groups (high-anxiety group; HA-G, low-anxiety group; LA-G, high-depression group; HD-G, low-depression group; LD-G) according to their score on the BAI or BDI-II (separately).

Data analysis revealed the following facts:

• In logistic regression analysis, disc hemorrhage, peak intraocular pressure (IOP) and RNFL thickness loss rate were significantly associated with high anxiety (p = 0.017, p = 0.046, p = 0.026).
• RNFL thinning rate and disc hemorrhage were significant factors associated with anxiety in multivariate models (p = 0.015, p = 0.019).
• Multivariate linear regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the rate of RNFL thickness loss and BAI score (B = 0.058; 95% confidential interval = 0.020–0.097; p = 0.003), and RNFL loss and IOP fluctuation (B = 0.092; 95% confidential interval = 0.030–0.154; p = 0.004).
• For the depression scale, visual field mean deviation and heart rate variability were significantly associated with high depression in multivariate logistic regression analysis (p = 0.003, p = 0.006).

We suggest that anxiety increases the risk of glaucoma progression and they are also associated with IOP profile and disc hemorrhage.

"These findings offer new insights into the care of patients with glaucoma. Therefore, the management of depression or anxiety may be helpful in managing glaucoma." wrote the team.

For the full article follow the link: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81512-0

Primary source: Scientific Reports