Depressive and anxiety symptoms in caregivers of children with congenital ectopia lentis: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To evaluate the frequency and severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms and explore possible risk factors among caregivers of children with congenital ectopia lentis (CEL).

Design: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted.

Participants: 108 patients and 108 informal caregivers (mainly parents) were included. Participants were grouped based on whether patients had systemic abnormalities: group 1 were children without systemic abnormalities and group 2 were children with systemic abnormalities.

Outcome Measures: The 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) were used to assess depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively.

Results: More than half of caregivers (51.9%) have depressive or anxiety symptoms of some degree. 38.0% of caregivers suffered from both depressive and anxiety symptoms. 19.4% of caregivers had moderate to severe depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score ≥10) while 16.7% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms (GAD-7 score ≥10). Between the two groups, the mean PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores significantly differed (p=0.026 in PHQ-9; p=0.018 in GAD-7). The proportion of caregivers with moderate to severe symptoms was greater in group 2 than in group 1. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores (r=0.827; p<0.001). Furthermore, best corrected visual acuity in the better eye of patients was positively correlated with both the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores (r=0.314, p<0.05 in PHQ-9; r=0.325, p<0.05 in GAD-7).

Conclusions: Depressive and anxiety symptoms were common in caregivers of children with CEL, especially among those whose children had other systemic disease manifestations or low vision. This study illustrates the importance of depressive and anxiety symptom screening for these caregivers to implement effective psychological interventions and support strategies.