[Visual defects of aging and their consequences]

Visual impairments have a preeminent place in gerontology because they are a constant feature of the aging process. The impairments are manifested through both normal and pathologic phenomena. Individual, professional and social consequences of these impairments are many: An individual's personal activities are affected, but also his profession, and his participation in the life of the community, his capacity to drive an automobile safely-or merely to get about in his own home.