Visual Impairment Linked to Cognitive Decline

A study published in J AMA Ophthalmology suggests vision deficits may influence cognitive decline in older adults, reports MedPage Today . The researchers linked visual impairment with reduced cognitive function cross-sectionally and over time, with worsening vision having a stronger connection with declining cognition than vice-versa. The team studied 2,520 community-residing adults in Salisbury, Md., who were 65 to 84 years old at enrollment in 1993-1995 with a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSA), tracking them for eight years. They assessed 2,240 people at the two-year follow-up point, 1,504 at the six-year point, and 1,250 at the eight-year point, with more than 50 percent of the loss being due to death. The segment of participants with MMSE scores indicating cognitive impairment rose from 11 percent at baseline to 20.6 percent in the fourth round. Visual acuity (VA) also got worse over time. Comparing the impact of VA at the start of the study on cognitive function to years later versus the reverse revealed that the standardized regression coefficient of VA to MMSE score was almost double that of MMSE score to VA. If visual impairment has a negative association with future cognition, "the tacit assumption is that improving (or protecting) visual function may be a viable intervention to prevent or control cognitive decline in older age," Notes Paul Foster of Moorfields Eye Hospital in the U.K.