Visual acuity, self-reported vision and falls in the EPIC-Norfolk Eye study

To examine the relationship between visual acuity (VA) and self-reported vision (SRV) in relation to falls in 8317 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk Eye study.

All participants completed a health questionnaire that included a question regarding SRV and questions regarding the number of falls in the past year. Distance VA was measured using a logMAR chart for each eye. Poor SRV was defined as those reporting fair or poor distance vision. The relationship between VA and SRV and self-rated falls was analysed by logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, chronic disease, medication use and grip strength.

Of 8317 participants, 26.7% (95% CI 25.7% to 27.7%) had fallen in the past 12 months. Worse VA and poorer SRV were associated with one or more falls in multivariable analysis (OR for falls=1.31, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.66 and OR=1.32, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.61, respectively). Poorer SRV was significantly associated with falls even after adjusting for VA (OR=1.28, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.57).

SRV was associated with falls independently of VA and could be used as a simple proxy measure for other aspects of visual function to detect people requiring vision-related falls interventions.