VI and blindness are highly prevalent among older people living in nursing homes. VI has a significant negative impact on vision-specific QoL. Vision-specific QoL is reduced, and the reduction in the QoL bears a positive association with severity of VI among older people living in nursing homes.

The prevalence of visual impairment and blindness is significant among the older adults living in residential care centers. The frequency of visual impairment and blindness can be prevented by adequate refractive correction, frequent eye examination, and appropriate high use of cataract surgery.

BackgroundVisual impairment (VI) affects physical, psychological, and emotional well-being, and social life as well. The purpose of this exploratory study was to assess the psycho-social impact of VI on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among nursing home residents.MethodsThis cross-sectional study involved 272 residents of 60 years or older residing in seven nursing homes of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Comprehensive ocular examinations, including near and distance vision assessment and refractions were carried out. VI was defined as visual acuity (VA) less than 6/18 in the better eye. Residents were divided into two groups: one group did not have VI (in whom VA was greater than or equal to 6/18 in the better eye), and the other had VI (in whom VA was worse than 6/18 in the better eye).Face-to-face interviews were conducted filling out a 36-item The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form (SF-36) questionnaire. The SF-36 questionnaire was scored according to the scoring algorithm SF-36 subscales.ResultsThe mean age of residents was 74.68 ± 8.19 years (range, 60–99 years) and the majority were female (78.68%). The mean composite score of SF-36 was 46.98 ± 13.08. VI detrimentally affected scores of both the physical and the mental components, but the impact of VI was slightly greater for the physical component than that for the mental component. There was a trend towards a lower composite score as well as each subscale score of the SF-36 in participants with VI than in those without VI.ConclusionVI has a negative effect on HRQoL. HRQoL is reduced among nursing home residents and the reduction in the HRQoL bears a positive association with VI.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of low light levels on postural stability in older adults with and without age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: Participants included 28 older adults [14 with AMD (mean age AE S.D., 83.4 AE 6.7 years) and 14 controls with normal vision (74.6 AE 3.3 years)]. Postural stability was assessed with eyes open on both a firm and foam surface under four lighting conditions in a randomised order: photopic (~436 lux, vertically at the eye), sudden reduction to mesopic (~436 to~1 lux), adapted mesopic (~1 lux) and adapted mesopic with a light emitting diode (LED) door frame lighting system (~1.3 lux), using the root mean square (RMS) of the centre of pressure measures derived from an electronic force plate in the anterior-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) directions. Visual function was assessed binocularly (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and visual fields), physical function was assessed using standardised measures (sit-to-stand, grip strength and the timed walk test) and self-reported difficulties under low light levels were recorded using the Low Luminance Questionnaire. Data were analysed using linear mixed models. Results: For all participants, low light levels significantly increased postural sway on the foam surface in the AP (p = 0.01) but not ML (p = 0.80) direction, but had no effect on postural stability on the firm surface. On the foam surface, while AP-RMS sway was significantly greater in the sudden (p < 0.001) and adapted (p = 0.02) mesopic compared to the photopic condition, sway for the adapted mesopic with the LED lighting system was not significantly different to the photopic condition (p = 0.20). On the foam surface, AP-RMS (p = 0.02) and ML-RMS (p < 0.001) sway were significantly greater in the AMD compared to the control group. None of the measures of visual function was significantly associated with AP-or ML-RMS sway. Conclusions: On the foam surface, low light levels significantly reduced postural stability in older adults with and without AMD, and postural stability was significantly reduced for the AMD group compared to controls, regardless of light level. Importantly, the LED lighting system reduced sway under mesopic conditions, which was not significantly greater than that measured under photopic conditions in either group. These findings have important implications for enhancing the visual environment for older adults with and without AMD to improve postural stability and reduce the risk of falls in low lighting environments.

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