Depression in Diabetic Retinopathy: A Review and Recommendation for Psychiatric Management

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes and one of the main causes of irreversible vision impairment in the working-age population. Multiple studies have demonstrated the significantly high prevalence of depression in patients with DR in recent years. The progression of DR could lead to depression, whereas depressive symptoms often worsen the condition of DR. Therefore, DR is one of the causes of psychosomatic diseases, the treatment for which should combine traditional DR therapy with depression interventions.

We reviewed existing articles that investigated the association between DR and depression in the context of prevalence, risk factors, biological mechanisms, and treatment indications.

The literature review in this article includes a brief introduction to current studies of depression and DR, followed by a focus on the epidemiology of depression in DR that help doctors better identify potential or existing depression patients upon first diagnosis. The underlying biologic mechanisms between the 2 diseases are briefly reviewed, and potential treatments are addressed.

Depression in patients with DR is not uncommon and has a negative effect on the condition of DR. To achieve optimal prognosis in patients with DR and depression, more attention to combined psychiatric therapies for depression is recommended.