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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

A Standardized Obstacle Course for Assessment of Visual Function in Ultra Low Vision and Artificial Vision
Published on: February 11, 2014
Health-related quality of life and visual and cognitive impairment among nursing-home residents
A F Elliott1, G McGwin, C Owsley
1Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 700 S. 18th Street, Suite 609, Birmingham, AL 35294-0009, USA. elliotta@uab.edu
Aim:
To examine whether the relationship between vision impairment and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in nursing-home residents is impacted by coexisting cognitive impairment.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study involved a total of 382 English-speaking older adults (>55 years of age) with > or =13 on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) from seventeen nursing homes in Birmingham, Alabama. Assessments were taken of visual acuity (Lighthouse Near Visual Acuity Test), cognition (MMSE) and health-related quality of life (Nursing Home Vision-Targeted Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire, VF-14, and the SF-36).
Results:
A greater portion of participants had both vision and cognitive impairments (38.5%) as compared with those with neither impairment (21.5%), vision impairment alone (13.4%), and cognitive impairment alone (26.7%). Cognitive impairment did not modify the impact of vision impairment on HRQoL. The reduction in HRQoL associated with vision impairment was similar for those with and without cognitive impairment.
Conclusion:
The deleterious impact of vision impairment on HRQoL in nursing-home residents was not exacerbated by the co-occurrence of cognitive impairment. Ageing-related visual impairment in nursing-home residents is often reversible through treatment leading to improved HRQoL, and thus it is clinically important to know that cognitive impairment is unlikely to interfere with this benefit.
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