Abstract
Purpose: With the benefits of advanced medical technology, Taiwan has gradually changed from an aged society to a super-aged society. According to previous studies, the prevalence rate of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) over the age of 60 is 15% to 20%. Therefore, the main purpose of our study was to analyze the correlation of cognitive function with visual function (specifically, binocular vision and visual perception) in Taiwanese volunteers aged 60 years or older. Methods: Thirty-six healthy participants who were not taking psychiatric medications and who had not been diagnosed with any retinal or optic nerve diseases were enrolled. Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination III (ACE-III), binocular visual function, and visual perception evaluation were performed, and the data analyzed statistically by t-test, χ2, linear regression, and MANOVA. Results: Cognitive function was closely correlated with visual function and visual perception; the horizontal adjustment time of binocular eye movement, stereopsis, the motor-free visual perception test-4 (MVPT-4), and peripheral awareness actually displayed higher explanatory power in predicting cognitive function. In addition, various interactive parameters between visual function and visual perception were found to affect specific aspects of ACE-III. Discussion: Our study revealed that there was a close correlation of cognitive function with visual function; as such, it may be possible to predict visual function deficits in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Highlights
Decades of medical advances in Taiwan have generally improved the health of its citizens, as evidenced by the increase in the life expectancy of the population [1]
Based on the ACE score cut-off point of 83, a detailed analysis of the 21 ACE-abnormal and the 15 ACE-normal subjects was conducted, and t-test analysis further showed that the cognitive performance was significantly different between the two groups, in the ACE total score (t = −8.93, p = 0.000, d = 2.61) and in other sub-tests, including attention (t = −4.54, p = 0.000, d = 1.32), memory (t = −9.89, p = 0.000, d = 3.34), language fluency (t = −5.06, p = 0.000, d = 1.71), language (t = −5.27, p = 0.000, d = 1.52), and visuospatial (t = −6.58, p = 0.000, d = 2.22.); these results indicated the reliability and internal consistency of the Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination III (ACE-III) test
Our results have shown that motor-free visual perception test-4 (MVPT-4) visual perception and peripheral awareness have a significant interaction with ACE visuospatial skills
Summary
Decades of medical advances in Taiwan have generally improved the health of its citizens, as evidenced by the increase in the life expectancy of the population [1]. In order to strengthen their learning motivation after retirement, the Social and Family Affairs Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare has established senior citizen learning centers in various cities and counties. Epidemiological studies have shown that at least one third of MCI patients will develop dementia within 5 years [5,6]. These trends are generally true in Taiwan [1]
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