IRDs: More vision-related symptoms may lead to more vision-related anxiety
Patients with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) with more symptoms are at a higher risk for vision-related anxiety, regardless of how long they experience the symptoms, according to a study.
In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 126 adults with an IRD answered questions regarding the duration and number of symptoms they had in the several vision domains and the Michigan Vision-Related Anxiety Questionnaire (MVAQ). Participants were an average of 49 years old.
The number of symptoms was found to be an independent risk factor for vision-related anxiety. Patients that had symptoms for >25 years had lower anxiety scores, leading the authors to suggest the symptom duration of >25 years may reduce this anxiety.
Reference
Popova LT, Abuzaitoun RO, Abalem MF, et al. Effects of duration and number of symptoms on vision-related anxiety in patients with Inherited Retinal Diseases. Ophthalmic Genet. 2022;1-8. doi: 10.1080/13816810.2022.2144901. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36440767.