BRAVO VICTOR, London, United Kingdom.
School of Music, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Front Public Health. 2023 Sep 21;11:1277341. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1277341. eCollection 2023.
Visual impairment (V.I.) has been associated with a negative impact on mental health outcomes, including a process of grief among those who lose their sight. Older adults with V.I. who had experienced discrimination have been found to be at increased risk of depression, loneliness, poorer life satisfaction and poorer quality of life. Adults from minority ethnic communities (MEC) may be at increased risk of V.I. and yet, research on the experiences of MEC adults with V.I. remains limited. This article forms part of a series which explores issues and status among MEC adults living with V.I. in the UK.
A secondary analysis of V.I. Lives survey data was performed to explore mental well-being assessed by the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale (SWEMWBS), the emotional impact of V.I., and prejudice and discrimination among a matched control sample of 77 MEC and 77 adults from white communities (WC). Participants were matched by age, gender, UK region and urban/rural setting. Subgroup analyses were also conducted for the two largest MEC subgroups, Asian ( = 46) and black participants ( = 22).
There were few statistically significant differences between the groups. MEC participants were significantly more likely than WC participants to rate emotional support to come to terms with their V.I. as important and to feel optimistic about their V.I. but they were significantly less likely to agree that they were receiving the level of emotional support they needed to get on with their life. Within the MEC group, participants from Asian communities had significantly poorer mental well-being, and they were also significantly more likely to agree that the general public were often prejudiced against people with V.I. and less likely to feel optimistic about their V.I. than black participants.
Although there were few statistically significant differences, participants from Asian communities were more likely to report poor mental and emotional well-being, and experiences of discrimination, than black and white participants. In contrast, participants from black communities fared the same as, or in some cases better than, white participants. Future research will need to confirm these findings and explore reasons for these.
视力障碍（VI）与心理健康结果呈负相关，包括失明者经历的悲痛过程。研究发现，经历过歧视的 VI 老年患者患抑郁症、孤独感、生活满意度和生活质量较差的风险增加。少数族裔社区（MEC）的成年人可能面临更高的 VI 风险，但关于 MEC 成年 VI 患者的体验研究仍然有限。本文是探讨英国 MEC 成年 VI 患者问题和现状系列文章的一部分。
对 VI 生活调查数据进行二次分析，以探讨通过简短的华威-爱丁堡心理健康量表（SWEMWBS）评估的心理健康状况、VI 的情绪影响以及 MEC 与白人社区（WC）的匹配对照组的偏见和歧视。参与者按年龄、性别、英国地区和城乡环境进行匹配。还对两个最大的 MEC 亚组（亚洲参与者 = 46 名）和黑人参与者（ = 22 名）进行了亚组分析。
组间差异不大。与 WC 参与者相比，MEC 参与者更有可能认为接受 VI 的情绪支持来接受自己的 VI 很重要，并对 VI 感到乐观，但他们更不可能认为自己正在获得继续生活所需的情绪支持水平。在 MEC 组中，来自亚洲社区的参与者心理健康状况明显较差，他们也更有可能认为公众经常对 VI 患者抱有偏见，并且不如黑人参与者对 VI 感到乐观。
尽管存在少数统计学差异，但与黑人和白人参与者相比，来自亚洲社区的参与者更有可能报告心理健康和情绪健康状况较差，以及经历歧视。相比之下，来自黑人社区的参与者与白人参与者一样，或者在某些情况下比白人参与者更好。未来的研究需要证实这些发现并探讨原因。
