Visual Impairment among Older Adults in a Rural Community in Eastern China

Purpose. to determine the prevalence,causes,and associations of visual impairment (vi) among participants aged 60 years or older in a rural community in china. methods. a community-based survey was undertaken in a rural town located in eastern china and 4579 people aged 60 years or older participated in the study. presenting visual acuity was assessed using a snellen chart with tumbling-e optotypes and anterior segment was examined using a slit-lamp. vi was defined as presenting va <6/18 and it included moderate vi (<6/18 to 6/60) and blindness (<6/60). results. the prevalence of vi was 5.4% (95% confidence interval [ci] 4.7-6.0). in multivariate analysis,the presence of vi was positively associated with increasing age (odds ratio [or] = 1.12,95% ci 1.10-1.16,per year increase),female gender (or = 2.33,95% ci 1.53-3.55),the presence of hypertension (or = 1.31,95% ci 1.001-1.85),living alone (or = 1.52,95% ci 1.08-2.62),and increased sleeping hours (or = 1.10,95% ci 1.001-1.22). drinking 3 or more glasses of green tea per day was inversely associated with vi (or = 0.79,95% ci 0.63-0.98). conclusion. vi was less prevalent in this community compared with previous report in other areas in china. � 2016 chen-wei pan et al.