Resumen de Prevalence of falls and fall‐related outcomes in older adults with self‐reported vision impairment

Joshua R. Ehrlich, Shirin E. Hassan, Brian C. Stagg

• Objectives To determine the prevalence of falls, fear of falling (FoF), and activity limitation due to FoF in a nationally representative study of older adults with self‐reported vision impairment (VI).

  Design Cross‐sectional analysis of panel survey data.

  Setting National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative survey administered annually from 2011 to 2016 to U.S. Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older.

  Participants Respondents (N=11,558) who contributed 36,229 participant observations.

  Measurements We performed logistic regression to calculate the unadjusted and adjusted prevalence of self‐reported history of more than 1 fall in the past year, any fall in the past month, FoF, and activity limitation due to FoF in participants with and without self‐reported VI.

  Results The weighted proportion of participants reporting VI was 8.6% (95% confidence interval (CI)=8.0–9.2%). The unadjusted prevalence of more than 1 fall in the past year was 27.6% (95% CI=25.5–29.7%) in participants with self‐reported VI and 13.2% (95% CI=12.7–13.7%) in those without self‐reported VI. In respondents with self‐reported VI, the prevalence of FoF was 48.3% (95% CI=46.1–50.6%) and of FoF limiting activity was 50.8% (95%CI 47.3–54.2%), and in those without self‐reported VI, the prevalence of FoF was 26.7% (95% CI=25.9–27.5%) and of FoF limiting activity was 33.9% (95% CI=32.4–35.4%). The prevalence of all fall and fall‐related outcomes remained significantly higher among those with self‐reported VI after adjusting for sociodemographics and potential confounders.

  Conclusion The prevalence of falls, FoF, and activity limitation due to FoF is high in older adults with self‐reported VI. This is the first study to provide nationally representative data on the prevalence of fall‐related outcomes in older Americans with self‐reported VI. These findings demonstrate the need to treat avoidable VI and to develop interventions to prevent falls and fall‐related outcomes in this population. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:239–245, 2019.