Visual impairment and falls in the elderly: the Shihpai Eye Study

To investigate the association between visual impairment and falls in a metropolitan elderly Chinese population.

A population-based cross-sectional study of eye diseases among subjects 65 years of age and older was conducted in the Shihpai community of Taipei between July 1, 1999 and December 31, 2000.

Of the 2,045 subjects invited, 1,361 (66.6%) participated in both the questionnaire and the eye examination. Sixty-two (4.6%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4-5.7%) had experienced 2 or more falls in the previous 12 months. On univariate analysis, best-corrected Snellen visual acuity of the better eye less than 6/12 (odds ratio [OR], 2.47; 95% CI, 1.18-5.18; p<0.001), female gender (OR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.49-4.26; p<0.001), high waist-to-hip ratio (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.00-3.47; p=0.01), history of diabetes mellitus (OR, 3.88; 95% CI, 2.27-6.62; p<0.001) and cardiovascular disease (OR, 2.26; 95% CI, 1.34-3.80; p=0.04) were significantly related to falls. In the final multiple logistic regression model controlling for other covariates, visual impairment (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.02-4.32; p<0.001), female gender (OR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.29-4.23; p<0.01), history of diabetes (OR, 3.61; 95% CI, 2.03-6.40; p<0.01) and cardiovascular disease (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.13-3.40; p=0.04) were significantly related to falls.

Falls were significantly associated with a best-corrected Snellen visual acuity of less than 6/12.