posted on 2023-08-30, 19:15authored byLee Smith, Trish Gorely, Mark A. Tully, Yvonne A. Barnett, Mike Trott, Shahina Pardhan, Guillermo F. López-Sánchez, Louis Jacob, Jae Il Shin, Briona Pfifer, Hans Oh, Damiano Pizzol, Ai Koyanagi
Background: There is a scarcity of studies on the relationship between visual impairment (VI) and time spent in sedentary behavior (SB), especially from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, we investigated the association of objectively and subjectively measured VI with SB in adults aged ≥18 years across 6 LMICs. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) were analyzed. Objective and subjective visual acuity were measured. Information on self-reported SB was also collected. Multivariable multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess associations with time spent in SB as the outcome. Results: The sample consisted of 42,489 individuals (mean age = 43.8 [14.4] y; 50.1% females). Only severe objective VI (vs no VI) was significantly associated with ≥11 hours per day of SB (vs <4 h/d) (odds ratio = 4.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.57–12.92). Increasing severity of subjective VI was associated with greater odds for ≥8 hours per day of SB (vs <4 h/d) dose dependently. Conclusions: The present study identified an association of both objectively and subjectively measured VI with time spent in SB in adults residing in LMICs, with subjectively measured VI being a stronger predictor of time spent in SB. Targeted interventions to decrease SB especially in those who perceive themselves to have VI are needed in LMICs.