Sleep and mood in central serous chorioretinopathy

To investigate the impact of central serous chorioretinopathy on sleep and mood in patients with acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

This cross-sectional study compared sleep and mood differences between central serous chorioretinopathy and control patients recruited from Ophthalmology clinics at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford between 2012 and 2020. Data including visual acuity, type of central serous chorioretinopathy (acute or chronic; aCSC/cCSC), sex, and chronotype were obtained. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI); the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to evaluate anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D).

A total of 247 age matched controls and 109 patients with central serous chorioretinopathy participated. There were no significant differences in PSQI or HADs (P > 0.05) between the two groups. Females exhibited significantly higher PSQI scores than males both for control and central serous chorioretinopathy groups (P < 0.05). Within the central serous chorioretinopathy group, 88 (81%) had chronic central serous chorioretinopathy and 21 (19%) had acute central serous chorioretinopathy, and an increase in daytime dysfunction was seen in the acute phenotype compared to chronic (P = 0.018).

In our study, no significant differences in sleep quality or mood scores were identified in central serous chorioretinopathy patients, when compared to controls. Worsened sleep for females was present when compared to males, both in central serous chorioretinopathy and control groups. Within central serous chorioretinopathy groups, worsened daytime function was observed in acute versus chronic - a larger study would help distinguish the effect of chronicity on sleep.