Crossland, Michael D;
Dekker, Tessa M;
Tibber, Marc S;
(2025)
Association between self-reported vision and mental well-being: a cross-sectional secondary analysis of Health Survey for England data.
BMJ Open
, 15
(8)
, Article e101753. 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101753.
Preview |
PDF
e101753.full.pdf - Published Version Download (422kB) | Preview |
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Eye disease and vision impairment are known to be associated with reduced mental well-being, but less is known about the well-being of people with near-normal levels of vision. Here, we examined the association between self-reported eyesight and mental well-being, controlling for eye disease, mental ill-health and demographic factors, for adults with a wide range of age and vision. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: 7705 adults (56% women; median age 49 years, range 16-104 years) who participated in the Health Survey for England 2013, self-reported their eyesight status and completed the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Mental well-being, controlling for self-reported mental ill health, self-reported eye disease, age, sex, socioeconomic group and ethnic origin. RESULTS: Poorer self-reported eyesight was strongly associated with lower mental well-being (univariate linear model, F(4,7700)=94.7, p<0.001) and explained 5% of the variance in the outcome variable (R2=0.047). Relative to reporting 'poor' vision, each subsequent level of vision predicted better well-being, with the exception of 'fair' vision, which was not significantly different from 'poor' reported vision. This association remained significant after controlling for self-reported mental ill health, self-reported eye disease, age, sex, socioeconomic group and ethnic origin. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported eyesight is strongly associated with mental well-being, irrespective of whether people have vision impairment or a diagnosed eye disease. This relationship exists in people with and without mental ill-health. Mental well-being should be considered in people with reduced eyesight, regardless of whether they have a diagnosed eye disease or mental ill-health. Interventions which improve vision may have a positive impact on mental well-being.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Association between self-reported vision and mental well-being: a cross-sectional secondary analysis of Health Survey for England data |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101753 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-101753 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Health, MENTAL HEALTH, OPHTHALMOLOGY |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212401 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
