Visual Impairment and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: An Examination of Explanations for the Relationship

Abstract

By identifying multiple pathways through which visual impairment diminishes quality of life among older adults, this study highlights the importance of multipronged intervention efforts.

A prospective study of the bi-directional association between vision loss and depression in the elderly

“…Two previous population-based longitudinal studies (Brown and Barrett, 2011;Chou, 2008) investigating specifically the effect of global vision loss on depressive symptoms found a positive association. In two-wave studies, the authors used a self-reported categorical assessment of global visual function with usual optical correction.…”

“…In two-wave studies, the authors used a self-reported categorical assessment of global visual function with usual optical correction. Brown et al (Brown and Barrett, 2011) did not exclude from the analysis participants presenting depressive symptoms at baseline, thus confounding the effects of baseline depression and baseline vision. However, by investigating possible mediating effects they observed that "psychological resources" (self-efficacy) and activity limitations to be two principal mediators.…”

“…Only three longitudinal, elderly population-based studies have been undertaken which have confirmed the association between visual impairment (Tournier et al, 2008) or visual function loss (Brown and Barrett, 2011;Chou, 2008) and subsequent high levels of depressive symptomatology. However these studies did not include the full range of common risk factors for both visual impairment and depressive symptoms (notably diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive impairment, smoking, obesity) which may confound this association, and two of these studies only used self-declared non-specific visual function (Brown and Barrett, 2011;Chou, 2008). In addition, no longitudinal study has examined depressive symptomatology as a risk factor for vision loss, although there are several hypothetical reasons for such an association.…”

Brow ptosis: are we measuring the right thing? The impact of surgery and the correlation of objective and subjective measures with postoperative improvement in quality-of-life

“…3,5 Visual impairment reduces QoL. 18,19 As such, it is reasonable to expect brow ptosis to have a negative effect on QoL, and corrective surgery to address this. In this study, we did not test visual fields after taping or manually elevating the eyelid because the results of the Federici study showed that taped/manually elevated VF measurements were not predictive of improvement in function after surgery.…”

Attachment Styles and Self-Efficacy in Blind and Non-blind Female High School Students

“…They may also become nervous because of feeling insecure and lost (Mirzaei, & Saeedi, 2013). Brown (2011) found out that severe visual disorders were associated with symptoms of depression and lower life satisfaction. These indicators have important roles in effects of vision disorder on reducing the quality of life, but their most important impact relates to self-efficacy.…”