St. Louis, MO – June 18, 2025 – A recent study published in JAMA Ophthalmology sheds light on the correlation between the diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and the mental health decline in patients who were previously diagnosed with ocular hypertension. Conducted as part of the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study, this research underscores the imperative need for a more sensitive approach in delivering such diagnoses.
Mae O. Gordon, PhD, John Burkland, BS, Julia B. Huecker, MS, and Michael A. Kass, MD from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at WashU Medicine and their Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study cohorts authored this study.
Physicians need to be careful how they tell patients about a new diagnosis. Telling a patient they have glaucoma can lead to anxiety, depression, and a fear of blindness. It is important to include information about the disease, potential treatments, and likely prognosis. All this information may not be conveyed in a single visit. Brochures, websites (carefully curated), and additional visits will be helpful.
– Michael Kass, MD
The cohort study involved 50 participants who developed POAG from ocular hypertension. Researchers assessed their mental health using the National Eye Institute’s Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (VFQ-25). The findings were significant, indicating a decrease in mental health scores post-diagnosis, despite the absence of substantive changes in other VFQ-25 scale scores or clinically meaningful changes in clinical measures.
Key Findings:
- Mental Health Impact – After receiving the POAG diagnosis, participants reported lower mental health scores in the VFQ-25. This decline suggests a substantial emotional and psychological burden carried by patients upon learning they have glaucoma.
- Stable Clinical Measures – Interestingly, despite these mental health concerns, there were no clinically meaningful changes in other aspects of their vision as measured by VFQ scales or clinical tests. This research suggests that the emotional impact may be more closely tied to the nature of the diagnosis than to a true deterioration in vision.
This study emphasizes the urgent need for developing strategies to communicate POAG diagnoses in a manner that mitigates unnecessary mental health decline. Healthcare professionals must consider not only the clinical aspects of the diagnosis but also the psychological well-being of their patients.
About WashU Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 56% in the last seven years. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.