Vision Impairment and Frailty Among Mexican American Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

We examined the relationship between vision impairment (VI) and new-onset frailty among non-frail Mexican American older adults (≥70 years) at baseline and determined the differential impact of VI on each frailty criteria. Data were from an 18-year prospective cohort from the Hispanic Established Po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied gerontology 2024-06, Vol.43 (6), p.755-764
Main Authors: Sonnenfeld, Mandi L., Pappadis, Monique R., Reistetter, Timothy A., Raji, Mukaila A., Ottenbacher, Kenneth, Al Snih, Soham
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Epidemiology
Female
Frail Elderly - statistics & numerical data
Frailty
Frailty - epidemiology
Frailty - ethnology
Geriatric Assessment
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mexican Americans
Mexican Americans - statistics & numerical data
Older people
Prospective Studies
Vision Disorders - epidemiology
Vision Disorders - ethnology
Visual impairment
Weight Loss
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Summary:We examined the relationship between vision impairment (VI) and new-onset frailty among non-frail Mexican American older adults (≥70 years) at baseline and determined the differential impact of VI on each frailty criteria. Data were from an 18-year prospective cohort from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (1998/1999, N = 1072 to 2016, N = 175). Frailty was defined as ≥3 criteria: unintentional weight loss of >10 pounds, weakness, exhaustion, low physical activity, and slowness. VI was defined as difficulty in recognizing a friend at arm’s length’s away, across the room, or across the street. We found that participants with VI (near or distant) and distant VI had greater odds of frailty (near or distant VI, OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.30–2.73 and distant VI, OR = 1.95, 95% CI = 1.34–2.86, respectively) after controlling for covariates over time. Early screening (optimal management) of VI may prevent or delay onset of frailty among older Mexican Americans.
ISSN:0733-4648
1552-4523
1552-4523
DOI:10.1177/07334648241231374