Several studies have shown that preventive care is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality in older adults. However, vision impairment might cause decreased preventive care uptake. This study aims to assess the relationship between self-reported vision impairment and the uptake of preventive care solutions.
This cross-sectional study included a total of 12,120-29,654 participants from different surveys and data sets. The participants were exposed to vision impairment identified as self-reported trouble seeing or blindness. The primary outcome of the study was a self-reported update of breast cancer screening (in women), influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccination, and colon cancer screening.
The findings suggested that older adults with vision impairment were less likely to report breast cancer screening (odds ratio 0.82) and colon cancer screening (OR 0.89) when compared with older adults with no vision impairment. However, the same trends were not witnessed for influenza (OR 1.06) and pneumococcal vaccination (1.03). In a separate study, older adults with vision impairment were less likely to report breast cancer screening (0.67), colon cancer screening (0.70), and pneumococcal vaccination (0.89).
The research concluded that older adults with vision impairment were less likely to use preventive services compared with those who did not have a visual impairment.
Ref: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/article-abstract/2772368?resultClick=1
