LAUSR

PURPOSE We sought to evaluate the association between 5 eye diseases (including glaucoma, cataract, congenital optic nerve disease, congenital retinal disease, and blindness/low vision) and mental illness in a pediatric population. DESIGN Cross Sectional Study Methods: De-identified commercial insurance claims database, OptumLabs® Data Warehouse, between 1/1/2007 and 12/31/2018, were utilized. Children less than 19 years old at time of eye diagnosis were included. Demographics and mental illness claims were compared, looking at the association of mental illness and eye disease claims. RESULTS 11,832,850 children and teens were included in this study with mean age of 8.04 +/- 5.94 years old at first claim. Of the patients with at least one of the 5 eye diseases (n=180,297), 30.5% had Glaucoma (n= 54,954), 9.5% had cataract (n= 17,214), 21.4% had congenital optic nerve disease (n= 38,555), 26.9% had congenital retinal disease (n= 48,562), and 25.9% had blindness or low vision (n= 46,778). There was a statistically significant association, after adjusting for confounding variables, between at least one of the 5 eye diseases and schizophrenia disorder (OR 1.54, 95% CI: 1.48-1.61, p<0.001), anxiety disorder (OR 1.45, 95% CI: 1.43-1.48, p<0.001), depressive disorder (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.25-1.29, p<0.001), and bipolar disorder (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.21-1.31, p<0.001), but a reversed association with substance use disorder (OR 0.88, 95% CI: 0.86-0.90, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS We found associations between eye disease in children and teens and mental illness. Understanding these relationships may improve mental illness screening and treatment in the pediatric population.