Association of Ophthalmologic Disorders and Depression in the Elderly: A Review of the Literature

Objective: To review the prevalence of depression in common ophthalmologic disorders in the elderly and provide insight into treatment.

Data Sources: PubMed, Google Scholar, and DynaMed were searched using the terms depression and ophthalmology in combination with depression, mood disorders, cataracts, vision loss, age-related macular degeneration, primary open-angle glaucoma, and Fuchs corneal dystrophy. Articles were limited to those published in the English language between 1993 and 2013.

Study Selection and Data Extraction: Twenty-eight articles that studied the prevalence of depression in ophthalmologic disorders were screened and summarized.

Results: The strongest association between ophthalmologic disorders and psychiatry is depression. In the future, primary care physicians and psychiatrists should play a significant role in the assessment and treatment of depression in visually impaired patients.

Conclusion: Greater recognition and treatment of depression in individuals with impaired vision is warranted.