Vision and low self-rated health: the Blue Mountains Eye Study

To assess the relationship between reduced vision and low self-rating of global health, after taking into account many other related factors.

The Blue Mountains Eye Study examined 3654 residents aged > or =49 years (82.4% response) in an area west of Sydney, Australia. Presenting and best-corrected visual acuity (VA) were measured before and after refraction using a LogMAR chart. During a face-to-face interview, self-rated health was assessed by asking: "For someone of your age, how would you rate your overall health?: excellent, good, fair, or poor." Information about demography, socioeconomic status, need for assistance in daily living activities, medical history, and health risk behaviors was also collected. Logistic regression analyses were performed after dichotomizing self-rated health as poor or fair (low) versus good or excellent.

Among persons without visual impairment (defined from best-corrected VA in the better eye), 24.5% rated their health as either poor or fair, compared with 35.5% and 48.8% of persons with mild or moderate-to-severe visual impairment, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression models that included 17 other related factors, reduced vision was statistically significantly associated with lower self-rated health in persons aged <80 years. For each one-line (5 letter) reduction in best-corrected VA, there was 20% increased likelihood of low self-rated health, after adjustment for other factors found associated with self-rated health (multivariate-adjusted odds ratio 1.2, 95% confidence interval 1.1-1.3). In persons aged 80 years or older, reduced vision had no impact on global health rating.

Decreased vision was found to have an independent impact on global health ranking by persons younger than age 80 years, but not by older persons in this population. Taking into account many other factors affecting perceived health, people younger than age 80 years who see well are also more likely to say that they feel well!