Work

Association between psychosocial consequences of visual dysfunction and depressive symptom burden in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Visual dysfunction and depressive symptoms are common and often disabling manifestations of multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). In this multicenter cross-sectional study, 458 adults with MS ( n = 370) or NMOSD ( n = 88) were recruited from six tertiary hospitals in China. Vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) was assessed using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25), depressive symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale depression subscale (HADS-D), and objective visual impairment using World Health Organization blindness criteria. Lower NEI VFQ-25 scores were associated with HADS-D screen positivity after adjustment for measured covariates (OR 2.33 per 10-point decrease, 95% CI 1.81–3.00; p < 0.001), whereas WHO-defined blindness was not significantly associated with HADS-D screen positivity in the fully adjusted model. In domain-specific analyses, associations for Core Visual Function were attenuated after mutual adjustment, whereas Psychosocial scores remained associated with HADS-D screen positivity. These cross-sectional findings suggest that vision-related patient-reported outcomes capture aspects of functional and psychosocial disease burden that are not fully reflected by a binary classification of visual impairment.

Source: Frontiers in Neurology

DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2026.1975600