Nearly 2.2 billion people worldwide are affected by vision impairment.1 Among individuals with vision impairment, an estimated 217 million have moderate-to-severe vision impairment and 36 million are blind.2 Individuals with vision impairment are at increased risk for depression and/or anxiety symptoms compared with the general population.3,4 Individuals with vision impairment have several risk factors that increase risk for depression and anxiety.

Individuals with vision impairment are more likely to experience financial hardship due to direct and indirect costs of vision impairment, such as productivity losses.5, 6, 7 Vision impairment is also associated with reduced performance on activities of daily living, worse quality of life, and greater risk for loneliness.8, 9, 10 Despite the increased risk for depression and anxiety, prior studies suggest that mental healthcare, such as pharmacotherapy and counseling, may be underutilized among individuals with vision impairment.11, 12, 13

The COVID-19 pandemic created additional barriers for healthcare access, such as lack of appropriate accommodations for telehealth, lack of accessible appointment scheduling, and decreased availability of public transportation.14, 15, 16 Individuals with dual vision and hearing impairment also encountered challenges, such as limited adoption of transparent face masks and limited availability of sign language interpreters.17 A prior study found that ophthalmic healthcare utilization including visits for vision impairment declined during the peak of the pandemic (March to May 2020) and through the remainder of 2021 (June to December 2021).18 Given the impact of the pandemic on healthcare access, it is important to also examine mental healthcare utilization among individuals with vision impairment during the pandemic. The current study will address the following research questions: 1) What is the prevalence of depression and/or anxiety symptoms among individuals with vision impairment during the COVID-19 pandemic? and 2) What is the prevalence of self-reported mental healthcare utilization among individuals with vision impairment during the COVID-19 pandemic?