Risk of depression high in retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) may predispose patients to depression, as reported in a retrospective study.

Researchers used data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment service in Korea and identified a total of 10,879 patients (52.5 percent female) who had a new diagnosis of RP. These patients were grouped into three, according to age at diagnosis: (1) younger than 20 years (n=638), (2) 20–39 years (n=2,233), and (3) 40 years or older (n=8,008). Prior to diagnosis of RP, 1,907 patients (17.5 percent) had depressive disorders.

The primary outcome was the incidence of depressive disorder among patients with RP. This incidence was compared with that in the general population.

Results showed that the 10-year cumulative incidence of depressive disorder was 17.67 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 16.57–18.84) in the RP cohort. In subgroup analyses, the risk of incident depressive disorder was higher among female vs male patients (hazard ratio [HR], 1.46, 95 percent CI, 1.29–1.65; p<0.001) as well as among patients in the ≥40-years vs 20–39-years age subgroup (HR, 1.93, 95 percent CI, 1.63–2.29; p<0.001).

Relative to the general population, the RP cohort had a higher risk of depressive disorder, with the overall standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 1.19 (95 percent CI, 1.12–1.27; p<0.001). This risk increase was observed in both male and female RP patients (incidence rates, 17.53 and 25.57 per 1,000 person-years, respectively; SIRs, 1.21 and 1.18, respectively; p<0.001). Subgroup analysis by age group indicated that the SIR was highest among patients aged 20–29 years (1.50, 95 percent CI, 1.17–1.90; p=0.006) and those aged aged ≥60 years (SIR, 1.25, 95 percent CI, 1.14–1.37; p<0.001).

The findings underscore the importance of providing emotional and social support to patients with RP.