Emotional and Caregiver Burden in Adults with Glaucoma-Related Blindness at a Chinese Tertiary Center

Purpose: To investigate the psychological and functional burden of glaucoma-related blindness in adult patients and their primary caregivers, and to examine the interrelationships within the patient-caregiver dyad. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study enrolled 110 adult patients with glaucoma-related blindness and their caregivers. Depressive symptoms, vision-related quality of life, and caregiver burden were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI-VFQ-25), and the 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22), respectively. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with caregiver burden. A mediation analysis examined whether patients' depressive symptoms mediated the association between visual impairment (VI) and caregiver burden. Results: < 0.05). Conclusion: Glaucoma-related blindness imposes significant psychological and functional burdens on patients and caregivers, with evidence of emotional contagion. Effective control of intraocular pressure and mental health support for caregivers are critical to reducing caregiver burden.