Abstract
Purpose :
Controversy exists regarding the vision-related risk factors that contribute to falls and falls with injury in different patient populations. Using a cross-sectional study, we aimed to determine whether central visual impairment (CVI), peripheral visual impairment (PVI), and contrast sensitivity loss are independent risk factors for falls and falls with injury among a population-based sample of 4554 50+ year-old Chinese Americans.
Methods :
Data was collected as part of the population-based Chinese American Eye Study. CVI was classified as mild (20/40-20/63) or moderate/severe (≤20/80) and PVI was classified as mild (mean deviation in the worse eye: >-6dB, <-2dB) or moderate/severe (≤-6 dB). Contrast sensitivity was based on photopic and mesopic measures where any measure ≤1.5 was categorized as poor.
Results :
Of 4554 participants, 8% reported falls and 6% reported falls with injury in the past 12 months. Among those who reported falls, 20% had CVI compared to 10% who did not, and 71% had PVI compared to 56% who did not (univariate Ps<0.001). 15% had poor contrast sensitivity compared to 3% who did not (univariate P<0.0001). After adjusting for age, gender, and number of comorbidities, PVI was associated with an increased risk of falls (Ptrend=0.002) and falls with injury (Ptrend=0.044) in a dose-dependent manner with moderate to severe PVI associated with a 77% higher risk of falls (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.29-2.43) and 59% higher risk of falls with injury (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.10-2.29). Neither CVI nor contrast sensitivity were associated with falls or falls with injury.
Conclusions :
In the Chinese American Eye Study, PVI was an independent risk factor for falls and falls with injury; however, CVI and contrast sensitivity loss were not. Our results indicate that targeting PVI is essential to prevent falls and falls with injury among older Chinese Americans.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.