Factors Related to Visual Impairment among the Elderly in Urban Areas, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

Abstract

Visual impairment is a disorder that happens throughout the life span, but it mostly affects people after the age of 40 years. Its prevalence increases with advancing age. Visual impairment is an important cause of problems in the everyday life of the elderly i.e., it reduces their ability to do daily activities and affects their emotion and mental health. This impairment limitstheir interaction with people, andresults in an overall decrease in quality of life. Moreover, vision problems increase the risk of having accidents, especially falls in the elderly. Visual impairment is caused byage-related physical deterioration, but 80% of such visual impairment can be avoided or cured. Studies have revealed that the following factors are related to visual impairment in the elderly: socio-demographic factors, namelysex, age, race, and income; and health behaviors such as smoking, dietary habit, and exercise; as well as medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke. Monitoring and assessment of risk factors affecting visual impairment are useful for the designation of demand and expectation on treatment and rehabilitation of vision problems, as well as for planning and doing projects to prevent visual loss. This study aimed to examine visual impairment among the elderly in urban communities of Khon Kaen province and to identifyassociated factors.

This research was a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from September to December 2020 from 110 elderly people in urban communities of Khon Kaen province, Thailand, using questionnaires to collect health status and demographic data. Visual acuity was used to assess vision by using the Snellen Eye Test Chart at 6 meters (Distance VA). Criteria for the interpretation of vision tests were based on the WHO International Classification of Diseases 11, . Descriptive statistics were used for describing characteristics of sample groups, while logistic regression analysis was used to find the relationship between health status, demographic factors and visual impairment, and to determine predictors of visual impairment in the elderly.

The results revealed that 35.5% of the elderly participants were 60 – 64 years old, and the average age was 67.95 ± 5.84 years old. 34.6% of the respondents were visually impaired, and age  (p = 0.027), diabetes mellitus (p = 0.040) and wearing eyeglasses (p = 0.018) were associated with visual impairment. Predictors of visual impairment were: age range 65-69 years, 70-74 years and 75-80 years (AOR = 4.26, 95% CI: 1.29-14.03, AOR = 5.42, 95% CI: 1.37-21.36 and AOR = 4.26, 95% CI: 1.04-17.43, respectively) and wearing eyeglasses (AOR = 6.26, 95% CI: 1.77-22.19). Therefore, the elderly should be provided with proper eyeglasses for visual acuity, to reduce the risks of visual impairment and prevent visual loss.

This study was approved by the Khon Kaen University Ethics Committee for Human Reaearch (Ref No. HE631164)