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Hallucinations in visually impaired individuals: an analysis of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

Yoshihiro Kinoshita1, Masao Tsuchiya, Norito Kawakami

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Southampton, Royal South Hants Hospital, Brintons Terrace, Southampton, SO14 0YG, UK. ykino@island.dti.ne.jp

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
|July 29, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Visual impairments can trigger both visual and auditory hallucinations. Hallucinations in visually impaired individuals are linked to age, with visual hallucinations more common in those over 60 and auditory hallucinations in those under 39.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Ophthalmology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) involves complex visual hallucinations linked to vision loss.
  • CBS is often associated with elderly visually impaired individuals, with hallucinations typically limited to the visual modality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between visual impairments and both visual and auditory hallucinations in the general population.
  • To determine if age influences the development of these hallucinations in visually impaired individuals.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) in the United States.
  • Examined associations between visual impairments and hallucinations across different age groups.

Main Results:

  • Visual impairments were associated with visual hallucinations in the elderly (over 60) and auditory hallucinations in younger adults (18-39).
  • The prevalence of visual hallucinations in visually impaired respondents was 12.8%, and auditory hallucinations was 7.1%.

Conclusions:

  • Visual impairments serve as a trigger for both visual and auditory hallucinations.
  • Age is a significant factor, correlating visual hallucinations with older age and auditory hallucinations with younger age in visually impaired individuals.
Abstract

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