Vision and self-rated health: longitudinal findings from an older Australian population

To assess temporal associations between vision and self-rated health.

We examined 3654 Australian residents (82.4% response) aged 49+ years in the Blue Mountains Eye Study, during 1992 to 1994, and re-examined 2334 in 1997 to 1999. Change in vision was defined if baseline and 5-year visual acuity (VA) changed by > or =10 letters (2 lines). Change in self-rated health was defined if overall health ranking (excellent, good, fair, poor) changed by > or =1 step.

Of 2285 participants with data from both examinations, 59.8%, 23.9%, and 16.3% reported unchanged, declined, and improved self-rated health, respectively. Among persons whose self-rated health declined, the proportions with a decline in presenting VA, no change, or improvement were similar (25.2%, 23.8% and 22.5%, respectively, p for trend = 0.5). Among participants with decline, no change, or improvement in self-rated health, a similar magnitude in the age-sex adjusted mean VA decline (-1.0 to -2.7 letters) was observed. After adjusting for age, sex, hospitalizations, and incident chronic conditions, declining VA was not associated with increased decline in 5-year self-rated health (multivariate-adjusted odds ratio 0.99, 95% CI 0.75-1.30).

There were no parallel 5-year changes in self-rated health and vision in this population.