Association Between Sociodemographic Factors and Vision Difficulty in the National Health Interview Survey: A Population-Based Analysis

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between social determinants of health (SDH) with self-reported vision difficulty. Cross-sectional, population-based analysis. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is an annual survey based on the U.S population age 18 and older. It provides self-reported data on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic factors, health status, and health care access. The 2021 NHIS database was used in this study. Adult participants of the NHIS who responded to the vision difficulty question "Do you have difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses?" were included in this analysis. The outcome of interest was self-reported vision difficulty by participants. Analysis was donethrough univariableand multivariablelogistic regression. Overall, there were 29,464 participants included in the analysis. Univariable logistic regression showed an increased odds of self-reported vision difficulty among female (OR 1.28; 95% CI, 1.20-1.38; p<0.001), gay, lesbian, or bisexual participants (OR 1.24; 95% CI, 1.04-1.49; p=0.02), those who possessed public compared to private insurance (OR 1.83; 95% CI, 1.69-1.99; p<0.001), those with less than a high school education (OR 1.88; 95% CI, 1.67-2.13; p<0.001), and those with an income below the poverty threshold (OR 2.22; 95% CI, 1.96-2.51-0.67; p<0.001). Multivariable analysis revealed an increased risk of vision difficulty reported amongst non-Hispanic Black participants (OR 1.65; 95% CI, 1.21-2.25; p=0.002). A multitude of sociodemographic factors are associated with self-reported vision difficulty in the United States population. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering SDH factors in clinical practice and policymaking for patients with vision loss.