Prospectively recorded falls may predict future falls for patients with glaucoma
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DENVER — Prospectively recorded falls could help predict future falls for patients with glaucoma, according to a study presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting.
Tejasvi Kakani told Healio/OSN falls are a serious health concern among the older population.
“A fall can result in so many more health concerns and problems in the future,” she said. “Specifically for people with visual impairment, they’re at a higher risk of falling, leading to more health problems in the future.”
The study authors asked 244 patients with glaucoma to record falls and near falls prospectively daily over a 2-year period. At baseline, patients were also asked if they experienced a fall in the year before the study. The authors then assessed whether self-reported falls or prospectively evaluated falls and near falls were associated with subsequent falls in the following year.
Self-reported falls did not predict future falls in the first study year. Patients who fell in the first year of the study were 2.4 times more likely to report a fall in the second year compared with those who did not fall in the first year (P = .003).
Near falls in the first year were associated with higher odds of falls in both the first year (P < .001) and second year (P < .001) of the study.
More severe visual field loss was not disproportionately more likely to result in a fall in subsequent years even if there was a fall or near fall in prior years.
“We want to see what factors are leading to falls,” Kakani said. “We’re looking at the home environment specifically. We’re assessing factors such at lighting, clutter and contrast to see if any of those factors are highly associated with falls.”
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Kakani T, et al. Predicting future falls for glaucoma patients based on retrospectively vs. prospectively-collected fall and near fall data from prior years. Presented at: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting; May 1-4, 2022; Denver.
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