Ageing of adults who are blind: A scoping review

The ageing process of adults with a disability may differ from the typical ageing process, yet few studies have addressed ageing of adults who are blind. However, a broad scope of literature exists on ageing with a visual impairment that includes adults who are blind. People who are blind may age differently than people with a visual impairment. Furthermore, it cannot be inferred from studies on the ageing of visually impaired adults that changes are due to the ageing process alone, since vision may decline further as well. This article presents a scoping review of studies on the ageing of adults who are blind, examining the areas of decline due to ageing, differences compared to non-blind adults, additional contributing factors and support. A systematic literature search was performed from inception up to July-October 2023 in Scopus, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo and Web of Science. Thirteen articles met the eligibility criteria. Analysis led to four broad areas: physical, sensory, cognitive and psychological. In several of these areas, the decline due to ageing was similar for people who were blind or non-blind. Declines specific to people who were blind were in spatial memory and engagement to the outer world. Two abilities were identified where blind people outperformed sighted people: attention and working memory and active tactile acuity. Overall, ageing blind adults were shown to have additional risks and hence need extra support. Interventions may focus on physical and cognitive exercise, braille training, risk screening, education and social activities. More research is needed to replicate studies and disambiguate results, to include areas that have not been investigated specifically for this group, to differentiate between different types of blindness and to investigate systematically the needs and support of blind adults who are ageing.