Physical Activity Is Associated with Improved Visuomotor Processing in Older Adults with Moderate and Advanced...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Gerontology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Glaucoma significantly impacts daily activities in older adults.
• Visuomotor task performance is crucial for independence and safety.
• Understanding factors affecting visuomotor function in glaucoma is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare visuomotor task performance between older adults with moderate/advanced glaucoma and healthy controls.
• To determine the influence of physical activity, age, and visual impairment severity on visuomotor performance in glaucoma patients.

Main Methods:

• Sixty older adults (moderate glaucoma, advanced glaucoma, normal sight) participated.
• Visuomotor processing assessed via simple and complex reaction tasks.
• Visual field defect severity measured using Humphrey Visual Field tests; physical activity via IPAQ.

Main Results:

• Glaucoma patients demonstrated significantly poorer visuomotor task scores than controls.
• Physical activity, age, and binocular visual field defect explained 54% of complex reaction time variance.
• Low physical activity emerged as a risk factor for visuomotor processing decline.

Conclusions:

• Glaucoma impairs visuomotor task performance in older adults.
• Physical activity is a modifiable factor influencing visuomotor function in glaucoma.
• Potential compensatory mechanisms may exist for severe visual field defects.