Falls by Senior Citizens Caused by Poor Central and
Side Vision, Study Finds
Recommends advising patients 60 and older, even with
normal vision, on their increased fall risk and need to take extra
precautions
Feb. 1, 2010 Falls by senior citizens are common
and a major concern of many in the medical field. It has been well
established seniors with reduced central vision the ability to see
clearly in front of them, which is often diminished by
age-related macular degeneration (AMD),
are more likely to fall. Now, a new study finds falls are also common
among the elderly with poor peripheral vision.
Each year, falls occur in 35 to 40 percent of
people age 65 and older who are generally healthy and living
independently.
About half of all falls result in injury, and up to 18
percent of these injuries require medical care, according to the report
in this month's Ophthalmology, the journal of the American
Academy of Ophthalmology.
The new report from the Los Angeles Latino Eye
Study (LALES) claims to be the first to show the independent effects of
impairment of central (CVI) and of peripheral vision (PVI).
CVI and PVI were measured for more than 3,200 LALES
participants at the time each person joined the study, between 2000 and
2003. In participant reports gathered between 2004 and 2008, 19 percent
reported falls and 10 percent falls with injury within the previous 12
months.
The proportion of falls and falls with injury
increased with the severity of CVI and PVI, suggesting cause-and-effect
relationships.
People with CVI were at 2.8 times' higher risk for
falls with injury than those with no visual impairment, and PVI
increased the risk 1.4 times. Seventy percent of those with CVI also had
PVI.
"The data strongly suggest that treating central
vision alone may be insufficient to help prevent falls and falls with
injury, and that older patients should also be screened and treated for
PVI," said lead researcher Rohit Varma, MD, MPH.
"Also, we recommend advising patients aged 60 and
older on their increased fall risk and the need to take extra
precautions. Finally, since persons in our study with normal vision also
experienced falls and related injuries, research is needed on other
causes of this problem."
About the American Academy of Ophthalmology
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the
world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons - Eye M.D.s -
with more than 27,000 members worldwide. Eye health care is provided by
the three "O's" opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is
the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and
injuries, and perform eye surgery. To find an Eye M.D. in your area,
visit the Academy's Web site at
www.aao.org.
Links to More Archived Reports on
Senior Citizens and Risk of Falls
One-point decrease on social activity scale was
equivalent to being approximately five years older at the start of the
study - risk of death, disability jump
Feb. 1, 2010 Falls by senior citizens are common
and a major concern of many in the medical field. It has been well
established seniors with reduced central vision the ability to see
clearly in front of them, which is often diminished by
About the American Academy of Ophthalmology
