Older adults with untreated sight conditions may be at increased risk of dementia, according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 studies involving 76,373 participants.
Published in the peer-reviewed journal Aging and Mental Health, the study highlights a need for further research to examine the impact of correcting sight problems in older adults, for example, with glasses or cataract surgery, to prevent cognitive problems and dementia.
“This study is among the first to evaluate the association between sight problems and cognitive outcomes in older adults through a comprehensive examination of all available population-based studies in English. Our findings add to the growing evidence that fading eyesight is a risk factor for developing dementia,” said lead author, Associate Professor Beibei Xu, from the Medical Informatics Center at Peking University. “Although the reasons behind this remain unclear, it suggests that diagnosing and treating eye conditions may be beneficial – both to improve a person’s quality of life and also to potentially slow down or stop memory loss.”
The authors found people with a sight problem had an increased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, regardless of whether their visual impairment was self-reported or diagnosed using objective measures. The likelihood of having a cognitive impairment was 137% higher among people who had a sight problem compared to those who did not. People who had a sight problem at baseline had a 41% increased risk of developing cognitive impairment and a 44% increased risk of dementia, compared with those who did not.
