A study exploring the causal relationship between glaucoma and anxiety disorders.

ABSTRACT

Background: Glaucoma, a leading cause of global blindness, is characterized by optic nerve damage and visual field loss. Previous studies have suggested a potential association between glaucoma and anxiety disorders. However, the causal relationship between these two conditions remains unclear. Methods: In this study, we conducted a Mendelian Randomization analysis to investigate the causal relationship between glaucoma and anxiety disorders. We sourced Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) datasets for glaucoma and anxiety with the largest sample sizes from the Integrative Epidemiology Unit OpenGWAS (IEU OpenGWAS) project website. Instrumental variables were selected based on specific criteria, and statistical analyses were performed using the R programming language. Results: After filtering and merging the datasets, a total of 60 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained for analysis. Regression models were applied to assess the causal relationship between glaucoma and anxiety disorders. The results from all four methods indicated that glaucoma does not cause anxiety disorders (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Through rigorous Mendelian Randomization analysis, our findings indicate that glaucoma is not a causative factor for anxiety, with minimal influence from confounding factors in this study. These findings enhance our understanding of the relationship between glaucoma and anxiety.