title: A longitudinal study of the association between visual impairment and mobility performance in older adults: the salisbury eye evaluation study.
abstract: Few longitudinal studies have examined how visual impairment affects mobility as people age. Data from the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study, a population-based sample of 2,520 adults aged 65 years and older, were used to investigate the longitudinal association between visual impairment and mobility. Baseline, 2-year, 6-year, and 8-year visits occurred between 1993 and 2001. Mobility was assessed by measuring speeds on the following 3 tasks: walking up 7 steps, walking down 7 steps, and walking 4 m. Random-effects linear regression was used to model factors affecting speed. For each year of observation, speeds declined, and the visually impaired had significantly slower speeds than the non--visually impaired on all 3 tests after accounting for other covariates (βwalking up steps = -0.08 steps/second, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.10, -0.06; βwalking down steps = -0.11 steps/second, 95% CI: -0.14, -0.08; and βwalking 4 m = -0.08 m/second, 95% CI: -0.10, -0.06). However, the interaction between years since baseline and visual impairment status was not significant, indicating that mobility speeds declined at a similar rate in the visually impaired and the non--visually impaired. These results suggest that the impact of visual impairment on speed is significant but does not change as people age.
authors.forename: Bonnielin K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Swenor
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: Sheila K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: West
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: aging; disability; mobility; visual impairment