People with vision impairments up to four times more likely to suffer mental health problems

Research by international development organization Sightsavers, University of Ilorin, and the Kogi State Ministry of Health, in Nigeria has revealed links between vision impairment and poor mental health. The study, published in the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s (RSTMH) International Health, estimates that blind people aged 50 years and over are nearly four times as likely to have self-reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depression than those with no vision impairment. Individuals with severe vision impairment are almost three times as likely, and those with moderate visual impairment twice as likely to report having mental health issues.