Self-Perceived Oral Health Among US Adults ≥65 Years With Visual Impairment: NHANES 2015-2018

Older adults with sensory impairments face barriers to maintaining oral health, yet nationally representative evidence on self-perceived oral health among older adults with visual impairment has been sparse. We examined the association between visual impairment and self-perceived oral health among older US adults.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2015-2018 data were analyzed. Self-perceived oral health was categorized as good (excellent/very good/good) versus poor (fair/poor). Visual impairment was defined as self-reported blindness or serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses. Survey-weighted logistic regression assessed the association between visual impairment and self-perceived oral health, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and dental visit type. Complete-case analysis was used. Among 2541 participants representing an estimated 43.9 million US older adults, 9.6% reported visual impairment and 23.2% reported fair or poor self-perceived oral health. Fair or poor oral health was more common among adults with visual impairment (34.1% vs. 22.1%). Visual impairment was associated with lower odds of reporting good self-perceived oral health after adjustment (OR 0.67; 95% CI, 0.47-0.95).

Visual impairment was associated with lower odds of reporting good self-perceived oral health among US adults aged ≥65 years, highlighting the need for disability-responsive dental care and accessible communication in dental practice.