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Review
. 2022 Apr 25;11(9):2412.
doi: 10.3390/jcm11092412.

The Association between Vision Impairment and Depression: A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies

Gianni Virgili  1   2 , Mariacristina Parravano  2 , Davide Petri  3 , Erica Maurutto  4 , Francesca Menchini  4 , Paolo Lanzetta  4 , Monica Varano  2 , Silvio Paolo Mariotti  5 , Antonio Cherubini  6 , Ersilia Lucenteforte  3
Affiliations
Review

The Association between Vision Impairment and Depression: A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies

Gianni Virgili et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate whether depression is associated with vision impairment (VI) in population-based studies in adults. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched, from inception to June 2020. Studies were included if they provided two-by-two data for calculating the OR of association between VI and depression, or crude and/or an adjusted odds ratio (OR) with a corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were reported. The proportion of VI and depression was also extracted. ORs were pooled using random-effect models, proportions were pooled using random intercepts logistic regression models. Overall, 29 articles (31 studies) were included: of those, 18 studies used survey data (622,312 participants), 10 used clinical examination data (69,178 participants), and 3 used administrative databases (48,162,290 participants). The proportion of depression (95%CI) was 0.17 (0.13-0.22) overall and 0.27 (0.21-0.33) in VI subjects. The proportion of VI was 0.10 (0.07-0.16) overall and 0.20 (0.13-0.29) in depressed subjects. The association between VI and depression was direct: crude ORs were 1.89 (1.51-2.37) for survey data, 2.17 (1.76-2.67) for clinical examination data, and 3.34 (1.01-11.11) for administrative databases; adjusted ORs were 1.75 (1.34-2.30), 1.59 (1.22-1.96), and 2.47 (0.97-6.33), respectively. In conclusion, VI and depression are prevalent morbidities and should be actively sought when either is identified, especially in older adults.

Keywords: blindness; depression; meta-analysis; systematic review; visual impairment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no proprietary/financial interest regarding the publication of this study. G.V., D.P., E.M., S.P.M., and A.C. have nothing to disclose. M.P. reports personal fees from Allergan, Novartis, and Bayer outside the submitted research; F.M. reports personal fees from Novartis Pharma AG; P.L. is a consultant to Allergan, Bayer, Centervue, Novartis, Roche outside the submitted research; M.V. reports personal fees from Allergan, Novartis, and Bayer, Sifi outside the submitted research; E.L. reports personal fees from Angelini outside the submitted research.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram summarising the process for selecting original articles for review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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