Visual impairment and depression

Pubblicato il

Wednesday, 6 March 2019

Argomento

Cecità e Ipovisione

With visual impairment (VI-Visual Impairment) refers to a condition characterised by one or more limitations of visual acuity or visual field that causes repercussions on functional abilities, social relations and overall quality of life daily of those affected.

In 2015, globally, 253 million people were classified with VI, and this number is expected to increase to around 350 million by 2030.

Visual disabilities are classified (Law No. 138 of 3 April 2001) according to the degree of impairment, in five groups of visual impairmenttotal blindness, partial blindness, severe low vision, medium to severe low vision and mild low vision. These groups can be further divided into subgroups defined according to other characteristics, such as the age of onset of the deficit (congenital or acquired deficit), the underlying aetiology or the type of impaired visual function.

The link between visual impairment and depression

Functional disabilities, including sensory and therefore visual impairments, are known to be associated with depressive states. The association between visual impairment and depression has been evaluated by various studies, hospital and/or institutional, conducted in different countries, increasingly raising awareness that there is a negative impact of visual impairment on the mental health.

Population-based studies provide strong evidence for an association between low vision and depression, typically, people with visual impairment are 2-3 times more likely to be depressed.

Two studies have recently taken a closer look at the relationship between depression and visual impairment.

The first research, published in The Lancet Psychiatryanalysed 736 adult individuals and found that depression affects between 3.7% and 15.8% of women and 2.4% and 12.9% of menwith a greater predisposition in the age group of between 36 and 50 years old. The study also revealed other associations: the onset of depression was greater when the visual impairment arose in adulthood or more recently, or was associated with other impairments. Depressed individuals also showed a lower level of life satisfaction.

The second study, conducted in England and Wales and published in BMJ Open, aimed to outline, in 990 visually impaired subjects, risk factors predisposing to depression. The researchers found associations between depressive symptoms and age, ethnicity and self-assessment of health and visual impairment status. In particular, the study revealed that young age, non-white ethnicity and deteriorating health and eyesight conditions (according to self-assessment) represent risk factors for the onset of depressive symptoms.

The data provided by these studies suggest a high rate of depression among young and middle-aged adults, supporting the need for intervention by professionals with specific skills to assess the possible mental consequences of a visual impairment.

The specific assessment of visual impairment could, in fact, be a useful tool for identifying individuals most at risk of depression, who need early intervention and who can be followed up appropriately in eye care and/or rehabilitation.