The following is a summary of “Longitudinal Changes in Visual Acuity and Contrast Sensitivity and Incident Dementia,” published in the June 2024 issue of Ophthalmology by Almidani et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating how vision at baseline and changes in vision over time influence the risk of developing dementia.

They utilized data from a longitudinal analysis of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2021 to 2022), examining vision in both eyes, including sharpness at a distance (distance visual acuity, DVA) and near (near visual acuity, NVA), with the ability to detect contrast sensitivity (CS). Specifically, three criteria were used to detect dementia status: a doctor’s diagnosis, a specific dementia score, or poor performance on cognitive tests.

The result showed 2,159 adults in the study; the average age (weighted mean ± SD) was 77.9 years (±5.2), with a majority of participants being female (weighted: 54%) and White (88%). Initially, the median (IQR) for DVA was 0.08 (0-0.20) logMAR, while NVA was recorded at 0.17 (0.09-0.26) logMAR, and CS stood at 1.80 (1.65-1.85) logCS. During the 1-year follow-up period, dementia was diagnosed in 192 adults, constituting 6.6% of the study. Analyzed time-to-event data revealed that worse baseline DVA (HR: 1.08 [95% CI: 1.02-1.14] per 0.1 logMAR), NVA (HR: 1.07 [95% CI: 1.01-1.13] per 0.1 logMAR), and CS (HR: 1.09 [95% CI: 1.03-1.15] per 0.1 logCS) were associated with increased risk of dementia. Additionally, a decrease in CS over time (HR: 1.14 [95% CI: 1.04-1.25], per 0.1 logCS worse/year) was associated with an increased risk of developing dementia, whereas changes in VA showed no such association.

The investigators concluded that exploring interventions to reduce vision deficits may help decrease dementia risk associated with poorer baseline VA and CS, mainly focusing on the deterioration of CS over time.

Source: ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(24)00246-0/abstract#%20