Visual impairment and functional status from the 1995 National Health Interview Survey on Disability

Abstract

Vision had an impact on all ADLs and IADLs evaluated, with greater impact on self-reported function for younger adults. This suggests that younger adults perceive limitations associated with visual disability differently than do older adults.

Prevalence and causes of low vision and blindness in Baotou

“…Low vision and blindness have been very important public health problems worldwide. [1] In 1999, the World Health Organization proposed “Vision 2020: The Right to Sight” which has contributed to a reduction in the number of cases of blindness in the world. [2] Previous report by The Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study showed that the prevalence of visual impairment was about 10% in adults aged 50 years or older in China.…”

Prevalence of Visual Impairment in the United States

“…1,2 Individuals with impaired vision may be at increased risk of injuries 3,4 and are more likely to curtail or stop driving. 5,6 Visually impaired elderly persons are at increased risk of falls and fractures [7][8][9][10] and depression.…”

The Association Between Visual Acuity and Functional Limitations: Findings from a Nationally Representative Population Survey

“…This agrees with two previous studies reporting an association between self-reported visual function and IADL limitations. 26,27 However, results concerning ADL tasks have been inconsistent. 26,27 Mobility limitations (a timed 4-m walk test and chair test) have been reported to increase significantly already in the early stage of decreasing VA even though more than half of the subjects had unaffected mobility functions until VA decreased to the level of ≤ 0.2.…”

“…Planning adequate measures to alleviate the influence of visual impairment on general disability requires more detailed information to show which functions are particularly prone to the effects of worsening VA. To our knowledge, only few previous studies, based on self-reported visual function, have analyzed the association between visual function and difficulties in separate ADL and IADL tasks. [26][27][28] We examined the effect of decreased self-reported and performance-based vision on functioning in a large nationally representative population-based study of people aged 55 years and above. We also analyzed which specific tasks, including self-reported and performance-based functions, are limited at various levels of visual acuity.…”