The Correlation between Dry Eyes, Anxiety and Depression: The Sicca, Anxiety and Depression Study
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
6-1-2019
Journal
Cornea
Volume
38
Issue
6
DOI
10.1097/ICO.0000000000001932
Keywords
anxiety; depression; dry eye disease
Abstract
Purpose:To determine whether improvement in the severity of dry eye disease (DED) symptoms correlates with improvement in anxiety and depression.Methods:This prospective interventional case series recruited 45 adults with evidence of DED. Patients were administered the University of North Carolina Dry Eye Management Scale (DEMS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), and Personal Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-8) to evaluate the severity of DED symptoms, anxiety, and depression, respectively. Standard of care treatment was provided for patients for 3 to 6 months, followed by re-administration of the DEMS, GAD-7, and PHQ-9 surveys. Statistical analysis was performed to assess the relationships between changes in survey scores.Results:Participants had a mean age of 65.5 (SD, 13.3) years, and 37 (84.6%) were women. Seven patients were lost to follow-up. DEMS and GAD-7 significantly improved from 5.8 ± 1.8 to 4.6 ± 0.2.2 (P = 0.01) and from 5.6 ± 5.5 to 3.3 ± 4.6 (P = 0.05), respectively. Changes in DEMS correlated with changes in PHQ-8 (ρ = 0.3 P = 0.05), but not with changes in GAD-7 (ρ = 0.2 P = 0.3). Changes in DEMS correlated with changes in both PHQ-8 and GAD-7 in the subgroup of patients without prior depression or anxiety diagnosis (ρ = 0.6, P = 0.002; ρ = 0.4, P = 0.02). A multivariate analysis showed that the relationship between DEMS, PHQ-8, and GAD-7 was independent of a prior diagnosis of depression or anxiety and of the presence of comorbidities.Conclusions:There is a significant correlation between the severity of DED and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Effective DED treatment could have a positive impact on the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
APA Citation
Bitar, M., Olson, D., Li, M., & Davis, R. (2019). The Correlation between Dry Eyes, Anxiety and Depression: The Sicca, Anxiety and Depression Study. Cornea, 38 (6). http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ICO.0000000000001932