Visual Impairment and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: Results From Two Prospective Cohort Studies

To elucidate the association of visual impairment (VI) on both all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Population based cohort study.

A total of 12,510 US adults aged 40 years or older from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2008) and 95,477 UK adults aged 40 years or older from the UK Biobank (2006-2010). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. Competing risk models were used to investigate the influence of VI on cause-specific mortality.

After adjusting for socio-demographic information, lifestyle factors, and health status, the HR for all-cause mortality was significantly elevated among individuals with VI (US NHANES: HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.39-1.91; UK Biobank: HR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.08-1.44). A significant association between VI and heart disease-specific mortality was observed in the US NHANES (HR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.33-2.32), which was confirmed in the competing risk analysis (HR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.12-1.61).

VI is associated with elevated hazards of all-cause and heart disease-specific mortality. Early detection and management of VI, integrated with comprehensive cardiovascular risk prevention, may have significant public health implications.