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

ObjectivesTo evaluate the frequency and severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms and explore possible risk factors among caregivers of children with congenital ectopia lentis (CEL).DesignA prospective cross-sectional study was conducted.Participants108 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 measuresThe 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.ResultsMore 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