Study finds a two-fold higher risk of mental illness such as anxiety and depression among children with strabismus or ‘crossed eyes’.
Strabismus or ‘crossed eyes’ is a common condition where the eyes are turned in a different direction from the other. Thus, affecting vision and depth perception, especially among children. The eye condition is further associated with low self-esteem in children due to social biases regarding their appearance. Moreover, previous studies have found a higher risk of mental illness in children with strabismus. However, most of these studies had a small sample size. Now, a team of researchers at UCLA have conducted a study including over 12 million children. They published their findings in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.
The cross-sectional study analyzed a private health insurance claims database that contained data from across the United States. Out of the 12 million children, 352,636 children had strabismus and the remaining formed a control group. The researchers further divided the strabismus group into its subtypes: esotropia, exotropia, and hypertropia.
The majority of the participants were white, had at least one comorbid condition, and belonged to a family with a household income of $40,000 or more. Researchers analyzed for the presence of five mental illnesses: anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance use or addictive disorder.
Study Encourages Mental Health Screening
According to the results, all three strabismus subtypes caused an increased risk of mental illness in children. Even after adjusting for factors such as age, sex, comorbid condition and household income, researchers observed similar results. However, since the participants were all under 19 years of age, they did not find a link between substance use disorders and strabismus.
In conclusion, the study authors believe that the results can help doctors diagnose and manage mental illness in children with strabismus.
Psychiatrists who have a patient with depression or anxiety and notice that patient also has strabismus might think about the link between those two conditions and refer that patient.
Dr. Stacy L. Pineles, study investigator
Reference:
Lee, Yoon H., et al. “Association of Strabismus with Mood Disorders, Schizophrenia, and Anxiety Disorders among Children.” JAMA Ophthalmology, 2022, doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2022.0137.
