Prevalence and new onset of depression and anxiety among participants with AMD in a European cohort

• Main Authors: Jasmin Rezapour, Alexander K. Schuster, Stefan Nickels, Christina A. Korb, Hisham Elbaz, Tunde Peto, Matthias Michal, Thomas Münzel, Philipp S. Wild, Jochem König, Karl Lackner, Andreas Schulz, Norbert Pfeiffer, Manfred E. Beutel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2020-03-01
• Series: Scientific Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61706-8

Abstract To investigate the prevalence and new onset of depression and anxiety among subjects with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its association with AMD in a large European cohort with relatively good visual acuity. 11,834 participants enrolled in the German population-based Gutenberg Health Study were studied. AMD was diagnosed by grading of fundus photographs. Depression and anxiety were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 Scale, respectively. Logistic regression analyses were performed and adjusted for several parameters. 1,089 (9.2%) participants were diagnosed having AMD. Prevalence of depression in AMD and non-AMD participants was 7.2% and 8.0%, respectively and prevalence of anxiety was 4.2% and 7.0%, respectively. New onset of depression and anxiety at 5-year follow-up in AMD subjects was 2.6% and 3.6%, respectively. AMD was not associated with depression (OR 0.93; CI 95% 0.70–1.20; p = 0.62). AMD was associated with less anxiety (OR 0.67; CI 95% 0.47–0.93; p = 0.02). This is the first study analyzing both prevalence and new onset of depression and anxiety in AMD subjects. AMD- and non-AMD participants had a similar prevalence and new onset of depression in our population-based sample. Participants without AMD had a higher prevalence of anxiety. AMD was not associated with depression.