Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among Chinese patients with cataracts treated in tertiary general hospitals

Background Previous studies recruited unrepresentative samples of Chinese patients with cataract and reported a wide range of prevalence of depressive symptoms in this patient population (18.0–89.7%). The present study determined the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among a consecutive sample of Chinese patients with cataract treated in tertiary general hospitals. Methods A total of 339 patients with cataract were consecutively selected from ophthalmology departments of two large general hospitals in Wuhan, China. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Chinese Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Logistic regression was used to identify factors that were associated with depression. Results The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 23.9% (95% CI [19.4–28.4]%) among patients with cataract. Correlates for depressive symptoms include an education level of primary school and below (OR = 1.93, P  = 0.038), marital status of “others” (OR =3.15, P  < 0.001), poor family economic status (OR = 2.26, P  = 0.010), nuclear cataract (OR =4.32, P  < 0.001), and mixed cataract (OR = 2.76, P  = 0.017). Conclusions Depressive symptoms are common among Chinese patients with cataract treated in large general hospitals. Patients who are poorly educated, have a marital status other than “married”, have poor family economic status, and suffer from nuclear and mixed cataracts are at greater risk for depressive symptoms.