Visual Impairment Linked to Cognitive Decline

Visual impairment is likely associated with cognitive decline in older adults, according to new findings.

Researchers arrived at this conclusion following the completion of the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study, which included 2520 community-residing adults aged 65 to 84 years.

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Patients were assessed in 4 rounds. Round 1 took place from September 1993 to August 1995. Rounds 2 (n = 2240), 3 (n = 1504), and 4 (n = 1250) occurred 2, 6, and 8 years later, respectively.

The Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study charts were used to measure visual acuity (VA), and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to determine patients’ cognitive status.

Results of the study showed that both VA and MMSE score worsened over the course of the study, with a mean biannual decline of VA of 0.022 logMAR, and a mean biannual worsening of MMSE score of −0.59.

Poorer VA at baseline was found to be associated with poorer baseline MMSE score (r = −0.226), and the rate of worsening VA was associated with the rate of declining MMSE score (r = −0.139). Study data indicated that VA was likely the driving force behind the association of VA and MMSE.

“Worsening vision in older adults may be adversely associated with future cognitive functioning,” the researchers concluded. “Maintaining good vision may be an important interventional strategy for mitigating age-related cognitive declines.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Zheng DD, Swenor BK, Christ SL, et al. Longitudinal associations between visual impairment and cognitive functioning: the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study [Published online June 28, 2018]. JAMA Ophthalmol. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2018.2493