Visual impairment and depression: Age-specific prevalence, associations with vision loss, and relation to life satisfaction

Table 1 Characteristics of the sample by gender

Characteristics	Total (n = 736), n (%)	Women (n = 403), n (%)	Men (n = 333), n (%)	P value1
Age2				0.93
18-35 yr	157 (21.3)	88 (21.8)	69 (20.7)
36-50 yr	186 (25.3)	101 (25.1)	85 (25.5)
51-65 yr	200 (27.2)	106 (26.3)	94 (28.2)
≥ 66 yr	193 (26.2)	108 (26.8)	85 (25.5)
Education				0.20
< 11 yr	115 (15.6)	69 (17.1)	46 (13.8)
11-13 yr	286 (38.9)	162 (40.2)	124 (37.2)
≥ 14 yr	335 (45.5)	172 (42.7)	163 (49.0)
Native origin				0.006b
Norwegian	645 (87.6)	341 (84.6)	304 (91.3)
Non-Norwegian	91 (12.4)	62 (15.4)	29 (8.7)
Place of residence				0.21
Village/town	399 (54.2)	227 (56.3)	172 (51.7)
Small or large city	337 (45.8)	176 (43.7)	161 (48.3)
VI severity				0.05a
Moderate	254 (34.5)	155 (38.5)	99 (29.7)
Severe	296 (40.2)	152 (37.7)	144 (43.2)
Blindness	186 (25.3)	96 (23.8)	90 (27.0)
Age of VI onset				0.24
Congenital	330 (44.8)	118 (46.7)	142 (42.6)
Childhood/adolescence	142 (19.3)	69 (17.1)	73 (21.9)
Adulthood	264 (35.9)	146 (36.2)	118 (35.4)
Current VI status				0.06
Stable	523 (74.5)	275 (68.2)	248 (74.5)
Progressive	213 (25.5)	128 (31.8)	85 (25.5)
Other impairments				0.46
No	478 (64.9)	257 (63.8)	221 (66.4)
Yes	258 (35.1)	146 (36.2)	112 (33.6)

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

¹P-value derived from Pearson’s Chi-squared test.

²The sample had a mean age of 51.4 years (SD: 17.2), 51.7 for women and 51.1 for men. VI: Visual impairment.

Table 2 The point prevalence of depressive disorders in the visual impairment population by age and gender

Disorders	Cases/total	Total (n = 736) (95%CI)	Women (n = 403) (95%CI)	Men (n = 333) (95%CI)
Major depression
18-35 yr	18/157	11.5 (6.9, 17.5)	12.5 (6.4, 21.3)	10.1 (4.2, 19.8)
36-50 yr	29/186	15.6 (10.7, 21.6)	17.8 (10.9, 26.7)	12.9 (6.6, 22.0)
51-65 yr	14/200	7.0 (3.9, 11.5)	7.6 (3.3, 14.3)	6.4 (2.4, 13.4)
≥ 66 yr	8/193	4.2 (1.8, 8.0)	5.6 (2.1, 11.7)	2.4 (0.3, 8.2)
P value		0.003b	0.05a	0.08
Other depression
18-35 yr	7/157	4.5 (1.8, 9.0)	4.6 (1.3, 11.2)	4.4 (0.9, 12.2)
36-50 yr	8/186	4.3 (1.9, 8.3)	5.0 (1.6, 11.2)	3.5 (0.7, 10.0)
51-65 yr	8/200	4.0 (1.7, 7.7)	3.8 (1.0, 9.4)	4.3 (1.2, 10.5)
≥ 66 yr	12/193	6.2 (3.3, 10.6)	5.6 (2.1, 11.7)	7.1 (2.6, 14.7)
P value		0.76	0.95	0.75
Any depression
18-35 yr	25/157	15.9 (10.6, 22.6)	17.1 (9.9, 26.6)	14.5 (7.2, 25.0)
36-50 yr	37/186	19.9 (14.4, 26.4)	22.8 (15.0, 32.2)	16.5 (9.3, 26.1)
51-65 yr	22/200	11.0 (7.0, 16.2)	11.3 (6.0, 18.9)	10.6 (5.2, 18.7)
≥ 66 yr	20/193	10.3 (6.5, 15.6)	11.1 (5.9, 18.6)	9.4 (4.2, 17.7)
P value		0.07	0.59	0.16

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

Table 3 Prevalence ratios for depressive disorders with sociodemographic factors and characteristics of visual impairment estimated using regression analysis (n = 736)

Variables	Any depressive disorder
	Cases/total	%	Unadjusted PR (95%CI)	Adjusted PR (95%CI)
Age (continuous)2	-	-	0.89 (0.81, 0.99)1	0.83 (0.74, 0.93)1
Gender
Men	42/333	12.6	1 [Reference]	1 [Reference]
Women	62/403	15.4	1.22 (0.85, 1.76)	1.17 (0.82, 1.68)
Education (continuous)	-	-	0.85 (0.72, 1.01)	0.86 (0.72, 1.02)
VI severity
Moderate	40/254	15.8	1 [Reference]	1 [Reference]
Severe	44/296	14.9	0.94 (0.64, 1.40)	0.87 (0.60, 1.32)
Blind	20/186	10.8	0.68 (0.41, 1.13)	0.82 (0.49, 1.36)
Age of VI onset
Congenital	35/330	10.6	1 [Reference]	1 [Reference]
Childhood/adolescence	26/142	18.3	1.73 (1.08, 2.76)1	1.63 (1.03, 2.58)1
Adulthood	43/264	16.3	1.54 (1.01, 2.33)1	1.76 (1.11, 2.79)1
Current VI status
Stable	65/523	12.4	1 [Reference]	1 [Reference]
Progressive	39/213	18.3	1.47 (1.02, 2.12)1	1.43 (0.99, 2.06)
Other impairments
No	50/478	10.5	1 [Reference]	1 [Reference]
Yes	54/258	20.9	2.00 (1.41, 2.85)1	1.88 (1.32, 2.67)1

¹Results indicate statistical significance.

²Rescaled into 10-year age intervals. VI: Visual impairment; CI: Confidence interval; PR: Prevalence ratio.