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Updated: May 28, 2026

Using Motion Capture Technology in the Instrumented Timed Up and Go Test to Detect the Risk of Falling in Aged Adults
Published on: October 25, 2024
[Visual impairment in elderly fallers]
T H C Tran1, D Nguyen Van Nuoi, H Baiz
1Service d'ophtalmologie, hôpital Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, groupe hospitalier de l'institut catholique de Lille, boulevard Belfort, BP 387, 59020 Lille cedex, France. tran.hachau@ghicl.net
Objective:
To study visual impairment and the etiology of visual loss in fallers and non-fallers in older patients.
Patients And Method:
Cross-sectional study including two groups of patients: elderly patients admitted for a fall (group 1) and elderly individuals who did not report a fall during the 6 months before admission (group 2). Visual acuity was measured in both eyes of all participants. Complete ophthalmologic evaluation was performed in the fallers group.
Results:
The fallers group included 98 patients (mean age, 83.4 ± 6.3) and the non-fallers group included 106 patients (mean age, 79 ± 6.6). The fallers had lower vision than non-fallers (P<0.001). Visual impairment (visual acuity less than 20/40) was more frequent in the fallers (49.5% vs 15.3%, P<0.001). Causes of visual impairment in fallers were cataract (47.4%), association of cataract and age-related macular degeneration (17.5%), age-related macular degeneration without cataract (13.4%), and optic neuropathy (9.3%). Management of fallers was difficult, and only 17 of 48 eyes (35.4%) with cataract had undergone surgery.
Conclusion:
Fallers have a higher prevalence of visual impairment and blindness. Vision may improve with surgery in half of these eyes. This study highlights the need for systematic ophthalmologic evaluation in this high-risk population in order to prevent falls.
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