Blindness Linked to Higher Loneliness Scores - Summary - MDSpire
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Blindness Linked to Higher Loneliness Scores
Analysis of more than 61,000 patients found higher odds of elevated loneliness scores among those reporting blindness and those with diabetic retinopathy, but not among patients with glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration.
To evaluate the association between major eye diseases and loneliness scores in patients with diagnosed ocular conditions.
Approach:
Study Design: Cross-sectional analysis of 61,349 patients from the NIH All of Us cohort who completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale.
Participants: Patients with at least one diagnosed ocular condition, excluding those without a history of eye care.
Outcome Measures: Primary outcome was a UCLA Loneliness Scale score above the cohort median, adjusted for various sociodemographic factors.
Key Findings:
Self-reported blindness was associated with 1.61 times the odds of high loneliness scores in adjusted analyses.
Diabetic retinopathy was associated with high loneliness scores in adjusted analyses, with proliferative diabetic retinopathy at 1.28 times and nonproliferative at 1.16 times the odds.
No association was found between glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration and high loneliness scores after adjustment.
Interpretation:
The association between diabetic retinopathy and loneliness may reflect factors beyond vision loss alone, potentially related to systemic health outcomes of diabetes.
