Anxiety and Depression are More Prevalent in Primary Angle Closure Glaucoma Than in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of psychological disturbances and personality traits in primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients.

A sample of 50 PACG patients, 50 POAG patients, and 50 normal controls were enrolled in this study. All the participants were asked to complete the following questionnaires: Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), and Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ). Analysis of variance and t test were used to compare the subscores between the groups.

The scores of SAS and SDS were higher in glaucoma patients than in controls, whereas the PACG group had a higher score for both scales (48.44±9.90; 53.64±9.74) than the POAG group (42.62±9.00, P=0.034; 49.02±11.47, P=0.131) and control group (37.10±6.08, P=0.000; 38.86±6.64, P=0.000). Taking an SAS score of ≥45 and an SDS score of ≥50 as cut-offs, the prevalence of anxiety and depression in the PACG group (66.0%, 56.0%) was significantly higher than in the POAG group (44.0%, P=0.002; 40.0%, P=0.033) and control group (16.0%, P=0.000; 10.0%, P=0.000). The values of psychoticism and neuroticism in EPQ for the PACG and POAG groups were significantly higher than those for controls (P<0.05). In DSQ, PACG and POAG patients adopted immature and neurotic defense styles more often than controls (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between male and female participants in all the questionnaires used (P>0.05).

Significant differences were found between primary glaucoma patients and normal controls in psychiatric questionnaires, whereas the level of anxiety and depression was found to be significantly higher in PACG patients than in POAG patients and controls.