title: Anxiety and depression in cataract surgery: a pilot study in the elderly.
abstract: To assess anxiety induced by a planned cataract surgery and to evaluate the correlations of rated anxiety and depression with optical acuity pre- and post-operatively, 278 patients ages 65 years or older were tested. Patients were divided into two groups: first-eye and second-eye cataract surgery. Anxiety and depression were evaluated using the Hamilton's Rating Scales for Anxiety and Depression, respectively. Pre-operatively, first-eye patients showed significantly higher anxiety than second-eye patients (F1,251 = 75.39, p < .001). First-eye patients rated peak anxiety on the day of the surgery, while patients scheduled for second-eye cataract surgery presented no fluctuations in rated anxiety (F1,251 = 49.60, p < .001). There was no correlation of preoperative anxiety or depression with the outcome of surgery (F(1,251)s = .83 and .58, respectively, p > .05). Postoperatively, anxiety and depression in patients without any improvement in their vision were rated significantly higher than in those presenting improved visual acuity after surgery (F1,251 = 566.17 and 300.25, respectively, p < .001).
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Hospital of Athens, Greece. ectorcenter@yahoo.gr
authors.forename: Charalampos I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Mitsonis
authors.forename: Panagiotis A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Mitropoulos
authors.forename: Nikolaos P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Dimopoulos
authors.forename: Mihail I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Mitsonis
authors.forename: Nikolaos M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Andriotis
authors.forename: Olympia E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Gitsa
authors.forename: Ioannis M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Mitsonis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity