Community-Based Study on Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment among the Elderly in Taipei and Matsu

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate and compare the prevalence and causes of visual impairment of the elderly people in the urban (Taipei) and rural (Matsu) areas. Methods: People of the age of 65 or older were enrolled for interviews and ophthalmic examinations in a visual health care survey in Taipei and Matsu. The clinical examination included visual acuity testing, slit-lamp and dilated retinal examination for those with a visual acuity worse than 6/12. Visual impairment was defined as a best-corrected acuity in the better-seeing eye worse than 6/12. Results: Samples of 572 (367 residents in Taipei, and 205 residents in Matsu) elderly people were included. The proportion of overall bilateral presenting acuity worse than 6/12 was 19.2% (8.0% in Taipei and 39.1% in Matsu, p＜0.0001). We estimated the proportion of visual impairment among the elderly in Taiwan was 2.80% (1.91% in Taipei and 4.39% in Matsu, p＜0.0001). Cataract-related disease was the most frequent factor (70.5%) associated to visual impairment, retinopathy-related disease with/without macular edema the second (40.9%). There was no significant diffidence in the distribution of factors associated to visual impairment between Taipei and Matsu. Multiple logistic regression revealed that retinopathy with/without macular edema was the most significant associated factor correlated with the visual impairment among the elderly (OR=25.02, 95%Cl: 4.32-145.01). Conclusions: Although cataract was the most frequent factor in visual impairment, we found retinopathy with/without macular edema was the most significantly associated factor related to visual impairment for the elderly people in Taiwan. Aged people in the rural (Matsu) area were more likely to remain visually impaired than those in the urban (Taipei) area.