Abstract
Purpose :
Many studies have demonstrated the cognitive benefit of living a cognitively, physically, and socially active life in older age. However, the loss of vision may make it difficult for older adults to live an active lifestyle. No studies have examined the frequency of lifestyle activity participation in a controlled fashion in adults with different age-related eye diseases.
Methods :
We are conducting a cross-sectional hospital-based study of older adults (n=156) having either age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (n=48), glaucoma (n=50), or normal vision (n=58) in Montreal, Canada. To be eligible, those in the AMD group had to have late stage AMD in both eyes with a better eye visual acuity of 20/30 or worse. Those in the glaucoma group had to have a diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma in both eyes with visual field mean deviation of worse than or equal to -4dB in their better eye. Those with normal vision had to have acuity better than 20/30 in both eyes and visual field mean deviation better than -3 dB in both eyes. Further inclusion criteria included age ≥65 and a Mini-Mental State Exam Blind score ≥10. Lifestyle activities were measured using the Victoria Longitudinal Study Activity Questionnaire with 70 items measuring the frequency of performing various physical, social, and cognitive activities. A sum of activities done at least once per month was calculated since the variety of lifestyle activities is thought to be important for preventing cognitive decline. Linear regression was used.
Results :
The mean number of activities done at least once per month was 22 (standard deviation=7). Patients with AMD (β=-6.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) -9.3, -4.4) and glaucoma (β=-2.5, 95% CI -4.8, -0.3) participated in fewer activities per month compared to those with normal vision after adjusting for age, sex, race, education, and comorbidity level. Other variables associated with activity levels included age (β=-0.1, 95% CI -0.17, -0.0) and years of formal education (β=0.4, 95% CI 0.1, 0.6).
Conclusions :
Older adults with age-related eye diseases like AMD and glaucoma participate in fewer lifestyle activities. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the health impact of this activity loss.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.