Older people are at greater risk of both physical impairments and cognitive decline. Although previous studies have examined whether visual and cognitive impairments are associated, findings have been mixed with cognitive performance only crudely assessed. Nonetheless, it remains possible that this association becomes stronger with age. Accordingly, in the present study, we tested the hypothesis that older people with visual impairments have poorer cognitive performance than healthy controls. To this end, we employed validated tools to assess both visual-related and visual-unrelated cognitive skills.
Methods
A total of 30 older adults (mean age: M = 63.98 years, 30% females) with poor vision (logMAR value 1.0 or higher) and 30 gender- and age-matched healthy controls with no visual impairments (logMAR value 0.2 or lower) took part in this cross-sectional study. After a careful medical and psychiatric examination, participants underwent thorough cognitive testing for working and long-term memory and attention.
Results
Cognitive performance did not differ between those with and without visual impairments, though better cognitive performance scores were associated with higher educational level.
Conclusions
Among older people, visual impairment was unrelated to cognitive performance. Rather, cognitive function was related to level of education.
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