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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: JAMA Ophthalmol. 2013 May;131(5):573–581. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2013.2597

Table 3.

Crude Prevalence of Depression by Visual Impairment Status in US Adults 20 Years of Age or Older, NHANES 2005–2008a

Status Participants,
No.		 Prevalence of Depression, Weighted % (95% CI)
Moderate to Severe
(PHQ-9 Score of ≥10)		 Mild
(PHQ-9 Score of 5–9)		 Moderate
(PHQ-9 Score of 10–14)		 Moderately Severe
to Severe
(PHQ-9 Score of ≥15)
Presenting visual acuity
  impairmentb
    No 9541 6.8 (5.8–7.8) 14.7 (13.8–15.7) 4.3 (3.7–5.0) 2.3 (1.9–2.8)
    Yes 939 10.7 (8.0–14.3) 16.6 (13.9–19.6) 8.0 (5.6–11.2) 2.7 (1.6–4.6)
Among those with presenting
  visual acuity impairment
    Correctable 252 6.8 (5.9–7.8) 14.8 (13.8–15.8) 4.3 (3.7–5.0) 2.3 (1.9–2.8)
    Uncorrectable 687 10.9 (7.7–15.2) 16.2 (13.0–19.9) 8.3 (5.7–12.0) 2.6 (1.2–5.2)

Abbreviations: NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; PHQ-9, 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire.

a

Defined as a PHQ-9 score of 10 or greater.

b

Defined as presenting visual acuity worse than 20/40 in the better-seeing eye. Uncorrectable visual acuity impairment was defined as visual acuity worse than 20/40 in the better-seeing eye after the autorefractor provided optical correction. Correctable visual acuity impairment (ie, impairment due to refractive error) was defined as presenting visual acuity worse than 20/40 in the better-seeing eye before an objective autorefraction test that eventually improved visual acuity (≥20/40) after objective autorefraction.