Associations of anxiety disorders, physical activity and open-angle glaucoma: a population-based analysis

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Psychiatry
• Public Health

Background:

• Open-angle glaucoma (OAG) is a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
• Anxiety disorders are a common comorbidity in patients with chronic conditions like OAG.
• The impact of physical activity on mental health outcomes in OAG patients requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between physical activity (PA) levels and the incidence of anxiety disorders in patients diagnosed with OAG.
• To determine if pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis PA influences anxiety disorder risk in OAG patients.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a claims dataset from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (2011-2015) including 131,195 OAG patients.
• Assessed PA levels before and after OAG diagnosis.
• Employed Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for anxiety disorders based on PA levels.

Main Results:

• Patients with high PA levels post-OAG diagnosis showed a 9% lower hazard of developing anxiety disorders compared to those with low PA.
• Increasing PA from low to high after OAG diagnosis reduced anxiety disorder hazard by 6%.
• Maintaining high PA post-diagnosis was associated with a significantly lower risk of anxiety disorders (HR 0.899).

Conclusions:

• Regular physical activity may play a protective role against anxiety disorders in individuals with open-angle glaucoma.
• Promoting physical activity could be a beneficial strategy for improving the emotional well-being of OAG patients.
• Further research is warranted to explore the mechanisms linking PA and anxiety in glaucoma.