Report shows that visual impairments are associated with the risk of death in older adults
September 23, 2017
Thirteen years after baseline, 1,273 participants had died. A higher risk of dying was associated with noncorrectable visual impairment, with a stronger association for participants younger than age 75. The analyses "revealed greater effects of noncorrectable visual impairment on mortality risk, with both direct and indirect effects," the authors write. "Of mortality risk markers examined, only disability in walking demonstrated a significant indirect pathway for the link between visual impairment and mortality."
"In conclusion, this study reaffirms that visual impairment is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality," the authors write. "Disability in walking may represent an important indirect pathway to mortality for persons with visual impairment, and adjusting for this factor in statistical analysis may overadjust for the indirect effect of visual impairment on mortality risk. The impact of visual impairment on mortality may in fact be greater than that reported from previous studies that have used traditional statistical models."
Source: JAMA and Archives Journals