Study finds association between preventable vision impairment and risk for dementia
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Key takeaways:
- A study on a large database found an association between visual impairment and dementia.
- Simple interventions such as glasses and cataract surgery could lower the risk for dementia in a high number of people.
A study based on a large U.S. database found that all types of objectively measured visual impairment were associated with a higher prevalence of dementia in older adults.
“A majority of vision impairment is preventable, and many cases are even reversible. This is not necessarily the case with many other dementia risk factors,” study author Joshua R. Ehrlich, MD, MPH, told Healio. “Thus, for some older adults, improving and optimizing vision may represent a viable target to decrease the risk of dementia.”
Data were extrapolated from the 2021 National Health and Aging Trends Study, containing information from a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries. Distance and near visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were measured in the participants’ homes with their habitual correction or without correction in participants who did not habitually wear glasses. A total of 2,967 subjects aged 71 years and older were included in the analysis.
The weighted prevalence of dementia was 12.3% and was higher in subjects with near visual impairment (21.5%), distance visual impairment ranging from mild (19.1%) to moderate, severe or blind (32.9%), and contrast sensitivity impairment (25.9%).
As the authors noted, visual impairment is preventable in most cases with spectacles and, in some cases, cataract surgery. Simple interventions could therefore become a viable strategy to prevent dementia in up to 100,000 cases in the U.S.
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