Online Program

332010
Just out of sight: Mild visual impairment and its impact on self-care


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 1:10 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Rachel O'Conor, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Julia Yoshino Benavente, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Laura Curtis, MS, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Eleanor Small, Division of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Molly Davies, Division of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Michael Wolf, PhD, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
background:

Older age and limited health literacy are established barriers to self-management, which is essential to managing one’s overall health.  Mild visual impairment may also be an unrecognized and easily correctible impediment to self-care.  We sought to determine if mild visual impairment was an independent risk factor for worse self-management skills among older adults. 

 

methods:

We used baseline data from a cohort study of 895 older adults, ages 55-74, recruited from an academic internal medicine clinic and six federally qualified health centers in Chicago.   Self-management skills were measured using a validated, objective assessment of performance on everyday health tasks. Vision with corrective lenses was assessed with the Snellen [normal (20/20 – 25/20) vs. near normal (20/30 – 20/50)].  We modeled visual acuity predicting health task performance with linear regression, controlling for age, race, health literacy, number of chronic conditions and prescription medications.  

 

results:

Participants’ mean age was 63 years; 69% were women, 45% African American, and 30% had limited health literacy.  Normal vision was associated with better overall health task performance (β 2.57; 95% CI 0.48-4.59, p<.05), with greatest detriment in recalling health information conveyed via multimedia (β 4.19; 95% CI 0.66-7.65, p<.05), and accurately dosing multi-drug regimens (β 2.68; 95% CI 0.00-5.37, p=.05). A non-significant trend was found for interpreting medical information on print documents (β 1.99; 95% CI -0.44-4.42, p=.10).   

 

conclusions:

Public health initiatives that target mild visual impairment within a normal range may improve self-care behaviors.  Health systems and relevant industries should consider this when designing health information, materials and devices.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention

Learning Objectives:
Describe the role mild visual impairment plays in self-care behaviors among older adults.

Keyword(s): Self-Management, Aging

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Research Project Manager on multiple federally funded grants examining the relationship between health literacy and self-management behaviors and its impact on health outcomes.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.