Vision Impairment and Falls Among Older Mexican Americans Over 16 Years Follow-Up

Introduction Research examining the relationship between vision impairment and falls is limited among older Mexican Americans. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between vision impairment and new-onset falls among Mexican American older adults without a history of falls at baseline over 16 years of follow-up. Methods The authors studied 851 participants aged ≥72 years from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (2000/2001–2016). Fall status was categorized as having no falls and having 1 or more falls. Self-reported vision impairment was defined as difficulty in recognizing a friend at arm’s length’s away, across the room, or across the street. Covariates included sociodemographics, BMI, Mini Mental State Examination, depressive symptoms, smoking status, and hearing impairment. Generalized estimating equation models were used to examine the relationship between near vision impairment, distant vision impairment, and vision impairment (near or distant) and falls. Results Percentage of falls ranged 4.17% to 35.63% over time. Greater odds of falls (OR=1.45, 95% CI=1.00, 2.10) were found for participants with near or distant vision impairment and near vision impairment (OR=2.08, 95% CI=1.22, 3.55) over time, controlling for all covariates. However, no significant association was found between distant vision impairment and incident falls over time (OR=1.30, 95% CI=0.89, 1.92), controlling for all covariates. Conclusions Participants with vision impairment had greater odds of falls over time. Near vision impairment was the primary vision impairment category driving this relationship, suggesting timely near vision impairment screening among older Mexican Americans as an important step in preventing falls.