Association of Visual Health With Depressive Symptoms and Brain Imaging Phenotypes Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Summary

To characterize the association between visual health and depression and investigate the association between depression and brain microstructure and macrostructure in subgroups divided by visual acuity. In the UK Biobank Study cohort, 114 583 volunteers were included at baseline from March to June 2006 to July 2010. Habitual distance visual acuity was examined. Depression was identified based on Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) or through an interview-based psychiatric diagnosis. A 1-line worse visual acuity (0.1 LogMAR increase) was associated with 5% higher odds of depression (odds ratio, 1.05 [95% CI, 1.04-1.07]) after adjustment for age, sex, race and ethnicity. This study suggests an association between visual health and depression