Aging With Vision Loss: A Framework for Assessing the Impact of Visual Impairment on Older Adults

2019/07/31 by Bonnielin K. Swenor, Bonnielin K Swenor, Moon Jeong Lee +6 · 152 citations
Medicine · Psychology · #Affect (linguistics) #Clinical psychology #Functional impairment #Geriatrics #Gerontology #Healthy aging #Intervention (counseling) #Medicine #Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies #Psychiatry #Psychology #Retinal Diseases and Treatments #Retinal Imaging and Analysis #Successful aging #Visual impairment

paper · open access · doi:10.1093/geront/gnz117

published in The Gerontologist 60(6), 989-995 (Oxford University Press)

openalex publication_date 2019/07/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

There is limited research examining the impact of visual impairment (VI) on older adults while considering the complexities of aging, leaving gaps in our understanding of how health consequences of VI might be averted. We created a framework integrating concepts from disability, geriatrics, and ophthalmology that conceptualizes how VI challenges successful aging. Here, VI influences multiple functional domains, and increases the risk of negative health outcomes. This model acknowledges that common causes, such as risk factors that affect eyes and other systems simultaneously, may also drive the relationship between VI and health outcomes. Finally, the model highlights how the impact of VI on aging outcomes can be addressed at multiple intervention points.

Citations

• Visual Impairment, Age-Related Cataract, and Mortality
• Visual Impairment and Incident Mobility Limitations: The Health, Aging and Body Composition Study
• Complement Activation and Inflammatory Processes in Drusen Formation and Age Related Macular Degeneration
• Visual Impairment, Uncorrected Refractive Error, and Accelerometer-Defined Physical Activity in the United States
• Sensorimotor and psychosocial determinants of 3-year incident mobility disability in middle-aged and older adults

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