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New Glasses Boost Fall Risk
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It may appear intuitive that any treatment that reverses or halts such deterioration would be beneficial. One new study out of Australia challenges that notion.
Prescribing new eyewear doesn't necessarily reduce the risk of accidental falls. In fact, new spectacles may actually increase that risk! Vision researchers followed over 600 randomized elderly study volunteers from the Sydney area - average age was 81.
In this prospective study volunteers completed monthly postcards that reported any falls during the previous thirty days. The study ran for one year and the data was tabulated and analyzed.
65% of the seniors who received new spectacle prescriptions during the course of the study sustained at least one fall. This number was significantly greater than the control group who kept using their old glasses. Fractures were also more common among those with new eyewear.
Accidental falls is a leading cause of hospitalization for senior citizens. Survivorship from hip fracture in folks over 80 is dismal. Do what you can to help prevent this tragedy.
Getting back to this study, what do the findings mean? Was it a fluke or did the new prescription abruptly disorient these older study volunteers? More work needs to be done.
In my personal experience I have had older patients who rejected their scrupulously accurate new prescription lenses. Maybe they could see better on the vision chart but they were miserable in the real world and switched back to their old frames.
Certainly, if you know a senior with new glasses you might encourage them to be extra careful until they fully adjust. If they refuse to wear the new glasses, even after the correct prescription was verified, they may be happier going back to their earlier prescription. I'd take a little blurriness over a hip fracture anyday!
SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2007; 55:175–181.
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Technorati Tags: health and wellness, aging, senior citizens, vision
