Phychiatric problems of the blind: Anxiety; Somatoform; and Depressive Disorders. Menelik II Hospital; Addis Ababa; Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the magnitude of anxiety; somatoform and depressive disorders among blind people. Methods: All blind patients (according to WHO definition) who attended the Out Patient Clinics; Ophthalmology Department; Menelik II Hospital; Addis Ababa; Ethiopia; from October 2000-February 2001; were interviewed using a fully structured instrument (Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) core version 2.1). Results: 107 patients with visual loss were included in the study. Six (5.6) had acute onset versus 101 (94.4) with gradual onset. 48 (44.9) had been blind for more than one year. The most common cause of blindness was cataract (n=59; 55.1); followed by glaucoma (n=20; 18.7) and retinal detachment (n=12; 11.2). Only 5 (4.7) patients had psychiatric morbidity. Generalized anxiety disorder; depressive disorder and somatoform disorder each constituted one case. Two patients had dysthymia and one patient had social phobia. Conclusion: The reported prevalence of psychiatric problems among the blind in this study is way below those of other studies conducted in medical settings as well as in the general population. Further studies to determine the magnitude of psychiatric problems among blind people by using instruments with Amharic version of known validity are recommended; and the need to establish validity of the Amharic version of CIDI is stressed