Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Dry Eye Syndrome

Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial ocular surface disease characterized by visual disturbance, irritation, discomfort, and injury. Due to the impact of dry eye on vision function, daily activities, and quality of life, patients with dry eye may experience some levels of depression and anxiety. Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with dry eye syndrome.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 113 female patients with the symptoms of dry eye referring to the Ophthalmology Clinic of Farshchian hospital in Hamadan, Iran, within 2018 to 2019. The subjects were evaluated by an ophthalmologist for the symptoms and signs of dry eye using the Schirmerʼs test and tear breakup time. Then, the patients with dry eye syndrome were assessed in terms of depression and anxiety by the Beckʼs Depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16) at a 95% confidence interval.

In this study, the mean age of the patients was 42.90±13.50 years. The frequency rates of mild, moderate, and severe dry eye syndrome were reported as 8.8%, 64.6%, and 26.5%, respectively. The prevalence rates of depression and anxiety (i.e., mild, moderate, and severe) were 28.3% and 54.5%, respectively. There was a positive and significant correlation between the dry eye score with depression (r=0.210; P=0.026) and anxiety (r=0.324; P<0.001).

In patients with dry eye syndrome, a significant correlation was observed between the severity of dry eye and severity of depression and anxiety, requiring further investigation. The results of this study recommend to carry out psychological studies on this group of patients simultaneously with the treatment of dry eye.