Longitudinal Relationships among Visual Acuity and Tasks of Everyday Life: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study

Abstract

PURPOSE. To study the relationships among visual and physical function trajectories of aging adults.METHODS. The community-based random sample consists of 2520 adults who were aged 65 to 84 years in 1993 to 1995 and reassessed 2, 6, and 8 years later. Presenting and best-corrected Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study visual acuity were obtained. Activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs (IADLs) were evaluated through survey instruments. Growth curve models were used to simultaneously estimate health trajectories and obtain associations among the trajectories while controlling for relevant covariates.RESULTS. Best-corrected acuity (logMAR) worsened by an average of 0.013 (~1 letter) annually. ADL difficulties increased by 0.22 standard deviations (SD) and IADL difficulties increased by 0.28 SD annually. Controlling for demographic and health covariates, visual acuity rates of decline correlated with rates of increase in ADL difficulties (r ¼ 0.15, P ¼ 0.05) and IADL difficulties (r ¼ 0.41, P < 0.001). Acuity loss was significantly related to increases in ADLs for men (b ¼ 0.039, P < 0.01), but not for women (b ¼ 0.001, P > 0.9). The direct effects of acuity loss were strongest for IADLs where a 1-unit decline in acuity (logMAR) was associated with a 0.067 SD increase in IADL difficulties (P < 0.001) at baseline, and a 1-unit acuity decline (logMAR) per year resulted in a 0.10 SD unit increase in the rate of change in IADL difficulties (P < 0.001) per year.CONCLUSIONS. Over time, increases in visual acuity loss were related to increased IADL difficulties in men and women and increases in ADL difficulties for men only. The findings support the importance of maintaining vision in older adults. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.

Prognostic factors of 2-year outcomes of ranibizumab therapy for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy

“…Better baseline VA predicts better VA 2 years after treatment. Reduced vision in the elderly was associated with significant functional decline and increased difficulty with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) 35. Thus, maintaining better VA is necessary for maintaining better IADLs.…”

A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey of Sleep-Related Problems in Japanese Visually Impaired Patients: Prevalence and Association with Health-Related Quality of Life

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] The severity of these mental/physical disorders is reportedly correlated with visual impairment.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] The severity of these mental/physical disorders is reportedly correlated with visual impairment. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Therefore, those individuals might be at risk for lower health-related quality of life (QOL). [7][8][9][10] Sleep-related problems have been observed frequently in visually impaired individuals.…”

Measuring psychometric characteristics of the elderly sensory responsivity questionnaire– A tool for screening sensory processing difficulties in elderly adults

“…Visual and auditory modalities include "telereceptors" that can sense stimuli from a distance [20] . Many studies regarding sensory processing in the elderly refer to visual/auditory modalities and highlight that decrease in visual acuity and increase in hearing thresholds [21] , reduce performance levels on tasks of motor speed, executive function and memory [22][23][24] . Studies also emphasize the importance of integration between the visual and auditory systems for adaptive performance since visual and auditory processes are the gateways to higher cognitive functions [25] .…”