Psychopathology of Normal-tension Glaucoma in Hong Kong Chinese Out-patient

It is suggested the pathogenesis of normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) involves vascular dysregulation. In the past studies, it is well documented that many physical problems related to vascular dysregulation, such as angina pectoris (Friedman M et al 1974; Russek HI et al 1976), migraine (Diener HC et al 1994), primary Raynaud's disease (Wagner HH et al 1993) and stroke (Gainotti G, et al, 2001; Hayee Ma et al 2001), are associated with a high risk of depressive illness. So, NTG, being a disease involving vascular dysregulation, is postulated to be associated with psychopathology. Glaucoma increases after 40 year-old and the number of people over this age in Hong Kong is rapidly growing. However, we have no knowledge about the link between psychopathology and NTG in Hong Kong. The present study is sought to overcome the limitation in previous research and the goals of present study are:

• To identify the prevalence of psychopathology of normal-tension glaucoma Hong Kong Chinese Out-patients attending a university-affiliated glaucoma clinic.
• To determine whether there are any differences among NTG patients, patients with glaucoma other than NTG and control in terms of psychopathology and quality of life. Designs: Case-control study to compare among patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), patients with glaucoma other than normal-tension glaucoma (OTNTG) and control in terms of psychopathology and quality of life