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The association between objective vision impairment and mild cognitive impairment among older adults in low- and middle-income countries

journal contribution
posted on 2023-08-30, 18:10 authored by Lee Smith, Jae Il Shin, Louis Jacob, Guillermo F. López-Sánchez, Hans Oh, Yvonne A. Barnett, Shahina Pardhan, Laurie T. Butler, Pinar Soysal, Nicola Veronese, Ai Koyanagi
Aim: The association between visual impairment and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has not been investigated to date. Thus, we assessed this association among older adults from six low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (China, India, Ghana, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa) using nationally representative datasets. Methods: Cross-sectional, community-based data from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Visual acuity was measured using the tumbling ElogMAR chart, and vision impairment (at distance and near) was defined as visual acuity worse than 6/18 (0.48 logMAR) in the better-seeing eye. The definition of MCI was based on the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association criteria. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted. Results: Data on 32,715 individuals aged ≥ 50 years [mean (SD) age 62.1 (15.6) years; 51.2% females] were analyzed. Compared to those without far or near vision impairment, those with near vision impairment but not far vision impairment (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.16–1.52), and those with both far and near vision impairment (OR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.27–2.29) had significantly higher odds for MCI. Only having far vision impairment was not significantly associated with MCI. Conclusions: Visual impairment is associated with increased odds for MCI among older adults in LMICs with the exception of far vision impairment only. Future longitudinal and intervention studies should examine causality and whether improvements in visual acuity, or early intervention, can reduce risk for MCI and ultimately, dementia.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

33

Page range

2695-2702

Publication title

Aging Clinical and Experimental Research

ISSN

1720-8319

Publisher

Springer

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2021-02-11

Legacy creation date

2021-02-11

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

Faculty of Science & Engineering

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