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Vision Impairment Linked With Increased Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment
Vision loss in older adults is associated with increased odds for mild cognitive impairment, according to a study published online ahead of print in Aging Clinical and Experimental Research.
“Our research shows for the first time that vision impairment increases the chances of having mild cognitive impairment,” said researcher Lee Smith, PhD, of the Cambridge Center for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom. “Although not everyone with mild cognitive impairment will go on to develop it, there is a likelihood of progression to dementia, which is one of the major causes of disability and dependency in the older population."
For the study, researchers examined World Health Organization data for 32,715 adults age 50 and older. Participants, whose ages averaged 62.1, were from China, India, Ghana, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa.
Reducing the Prevalence of Dementia by Modifying Risk Factors
Findings showed that older adults with impairment of both far and near vision were 1.7 times more likely to have mild cognitive impairment compared with those with no vision impairment. Older adults with near vision impairment alone were 1.3 times more likely to have mild cognitive impairment.
However, older adults with only far vision impairment did not have increased risk of mild cognitive impairment compared with no vision impairment, according to the study.
“Research now needs to focus on whether intervention to improve quality of vision can reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment, and ultimately dementia,” said study coauthor Shahina Pardhan, PhD, director of the Vision and Eye Research Institute at Anglia Ruskin University. “More work needs to be done to examine any possible causation, and what the reasons might be behind it.”
—Jolynn Tumolo
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