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Vision Impairment and the Health of Older Adults
The prevalence of blindness and vision impairment increases rapidly with age among all racial and ethnic groups, particularly among people older than 75 years.4 Cases of early age-related macular degeneration are expected to double by 2050, from 9.1 million to 17.8 million for those aged 50 years or older. Cases of diabetic retinopathy among people aged 65 or older are expected to quadruple by 2050, from 2.5 million to 9.9 million. National studies indicate that vision loss is associated with higher prevalence of chronic health conditions, death, falls and injuries,9 depression, and social isolation. When combined with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, vision loss is associated with overall poorer health among people aged 65 or older. Vision loss compromises people’s quality of life because it reduces their capacity to read, drive a car, watch television, or keep personal accounts. Often, it isolates older people and keeps them from friends and family. Healthy People 2010 and Healthy People 2020 call for improving the vision health of the U.S. population through prevention, early detection, treatment, and rehabilitation. Public health research brings a distinct perspective to vision health and vision loss. Officials and researchers working in public health seek to better understand the magnitude and dimensions of vision loss at national, state, and community levels. By collecting data on vision and health, researchers can identify specific health disparities among different populations and in different parts of the country. This information can be used to tailor health promotion interventions to state and local needs. Research has shown that recommended eye care that addresses eye diseases and refractive error may remediate 50% of vision problems. However, many older adults do not seek regular eye care. Improving access to eye care, especially for those most at risk for vision loss, is an important way to improve vision health in the United States—and it should be a priority for the public health community. Because smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and injury can contribute to vision loss, public health initiatives should promote community and state collaborations as a way to integrate vision health into community health promotion activities. For people with severe vision loss, much can be done to promote health and quality of life through better nutrition, increased physical activity, and positive lifestyle choices. In this issue brief, we present specific questions from the BRFSS Vision Module, as well as key findings from the resulting data. All findings are for U.S. adults aged 65 years or older who fall into one of three groups:
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