Older people at risk of vision-related QoL declines

Older individuals aged ≥65 years are the main drivers of the associations between vision impairment (VI) and vision-related quality of life (VRQoL), indicating the need for effective regular screening and early intervention modalities to prevent the presence and onset of VI, and subsequent VRQoL declines, in these individuals, according to a study.

The investigators examined 3,068 Singapore Chinese Eye Studies 1 (SCES-1; 2009–2011) participants (mean age, 59.5 years; 50.2 percent female) and 1,919 SCES-2 participants (2015–2017; mean age, 56.8 years; 49.9 percent female).

VI was defined as visual acuity (VA) of >0.3 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) units; VI severity as mild-to-moderate (logMAR scores less than the median of all individuals with VI) and severe (logMAR scores median or greater); and VI incidence as VI absence at baseline but evident at follow-up. Age was categorized as follows: 40–49 years; 50–64 years, and ≥65 years.

A total of 807 individuals had prevalent VI, of whom 55.9 percent had mild-to-moderate and 44.1 percent had severe VI. Age-stratified analyses revealed significant reductions in VRQoL only in older participants (mild-to-moderate VI: 6.2- and 8.1-percent decreases in Mobility and Reading scores in those aged ≥65 years; severe VI: 8.5–13.4 percent decreases in the three VRQoL scores in those aged ≥50 years).

The association with older age became more pronounced with incident VI (n=168), where reductions in all three VRQoL domains were evident only in those aged ≥65 years relative to those without incident VI.