Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate an association between glaucoma diagnosis and mobility measured with life–space assessment (LSA) and mobility related visual function (MRVF) questionnaires in community–dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older.
Methods: :
We conducted a cross–sectional study using the existing database of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging Life–Space Assessment. 924 community–dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older participated in the study. Baseline in–home interviews were conducted by trained interviewers to evaluate LSA and MRVF status, glaucoma and other ocular co–morbidities status, general health status, and sociodemographic status of the participants. A participant was regarded as having glaucoma if he or she had been previously diagnosed with glaucoma (self–described) and/or had surgical or medical glaucoma treatment. MRVF consists of the 6 questions from the Visual Function–14 (VF–14) questionnaire that measure mobility related visual functional status. LSA measures the spatial extent of mobility in community–dwelling older adults by evaluating various geographic domains of movements, the highest being outside one’s town the lowest being outside his or her bedroom. Logistic regression models were developed to detect any association between the LSA and MRVF scores and the diagnosis of glaucoma adjusting for significant covariates.
Results: :
Participants with glaucoma did not show a statistically significant association with the LSA score (adjusted OR=0.820 with 95% CI=0.511–1.314, P=0.4). The adjusted odds for the reduced MRVF score were 2.04 times higher for participants with glaucoma than for controls (adjusted OR=2.043 with 95% CI=1.312–3.180, P=0.002).
Conclusions: :
There was a statistically significant association between glaucoma and the baseline MRVF, but not between glaucoma and the LSA. Our findings indicate that although mobility related visual function is reduced in community–dwelling glaucoma patients, their spatial mobility is not affected. Further studies are needed to evaluate baseline and longitudinal association between glaucoma and various methods of mobility assessment in community–dwelling older adults.
Keywords: aging • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment