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Visual impairment and blindness in institutionalized elderly in Germany

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A Correction to this article was published on 06 March 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

To determine the prevalence of and identify factors associated with visual impairment and blindness in institutionalized elderly in Germany.

Methods

In this prospective multicenter cross-sectional study, ophthalmic health care need and provision were investigated in institutionalized elderly in 32 nursing homes in Germany. All participants underwent a standardized examination including medical and ocular history, refraction, visual acuity testing, tonometry, biomicroscopy, and dilated funduscopy. A standardized questionnaire was used to identify factors associated with eye healthcare utilization, visual impairment and/or blindness.

Results

Visual acuity of 566 (94.3%; 413 women and 153 men) of a total of 600 institutionalized elderly was determined. Mean age of the included patients was 82.9 years (± 9.8). Of all participants, 30 (5.3%; 95% CI 3.4–7.2%) were blind and 106 (18.7%; 95% CI 15.5–21.9%) were moderately or severely visually impaired according to the World Health Organization definition. The 136 blind and moderately or severely visually impaired participants were older (OR, Odds Ratio = 1.1, 95% CI 1.0–1.1; p < 0.001), and more likely to have reduced mobility (OR = 12.6, 95% CI 2.8–57.6; p = 0.001).

Conclusion

A high proportion of blindness and visual impairment was found amongst nursing home residents. Age and reduced mobility were factors associated with an increased likelihood of blindness and visual impairment. Any surveys of blindness and visual impairment excluding nursing homes may considerably underestimate the prevalence of visual impairment and blindness.

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Change history

  • 06 March 2019

    The original version of this article inadvertently contained a mistake. Authors incorrectly listed in PDF version while correctly presented in the html version.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Ernst und Bertha Grimmke Foundation, Germany (PPL and TUK).

Funding

The Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, received research funding from the Stiftung Auge (German Eye Foundation) of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) with support of Bayer and Novartis for the OVIS study. The Medical Biometry and Epidemiology Unit of Witten/Herdecke University received research funding from the University of Bonn (Eye Hospital) for the methodological counseling of this investigation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Ernst-Abbe-Str. 2, D-53127, Bonn, Germany

    Petra P. Larsen, Sarah Thiele, Tim U. Krohne, Frank G. Holz & Robert P. Finger

  2. Centre for Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls-University Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany

    Focke Ziemssen

  3. Institute for Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany

    Frank Krummenauer

Authors
  1. Petra P. Larsen
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  2. Sarah Thiele
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  3. Tim U. Krohne
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  4. Focke Ziemssen
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  5. Frank Krummenauer
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  6. Frank G. Holz
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  7. Robert P. Finger
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Consortia

on behalf of the OVIS-Study Group

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert P. Finger.

Ethics declarations

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

S. Thiele reports personal fees from Carl Zeiss MediTec, Heidelberg Engineering, and Optos, outside the submitted work. T. U. Krohne reports personal fees from Alimera Sciences, Bayer, Heidelberg Engineering, and Novartis, outside the submitted work. F. Ziemssen has received honoraria for consultation and research from Alimera, Allergan, Bayer, Biogen, MSD, Novartis, NovoNordisk and Roche, none was related to the topic. F.G. Holz reports personal fees from Acucela, Allergan, Bayer, Bioeq, Boehringer Ingelheim, Carl Zeiss MediTec, Genentech/Roche, Heidelberg Engineering, Merz, NightstarX, Novartis, Optos, Pixium and Thea, outside the submitted work. R. P. Finger reports personal fees from Bayer, Opthea, Santen, Novartis, Retina Implant and Novelion, outside the submitted work.

None of the sponsors had any role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication. None of the authors has any proprietary or competing interests to disclose.

Research involving human participants

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the local ethic committees and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants or their legal guardians included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

Contributing Centers and Members Participating in the OVIS Study

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Frankfurt, Germany: Prof. Dr. Thomas Kohnen, Dr. Lubka Naycheva, Maximilian Jochem

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Freiburg, Germany: Prof. Dr. Thomas Reinhard, Prof. Dr. Daniel Böhringer, Dr. Diana Engesser, Prof. Dr. Wolf Lagrèze, Claudia Müller, Carolin Wolff, Jessica Schmitz

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Gießen, Germany: Prof. Dr. Birgit Lorenz, Chrysanthi Papadopoulou-Laiou, Kerstin Holve, Silke Schweinfurth

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Göttingen, Germany: Prof. Dr. Hans Hoerauf, Dr. Wiebke Schwarz

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Hamburg, Germany: Prof. Dr. Martin Spitzer, PD Dr. Lars Wagenfeld, Paul Bertram

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Heidelberg, Germany: Prof. Dr. Gerd Auffarth, Branka Gavrilović

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne, Germany: Prof. Dr. Claus Cursiefen, Dr. Friederike Schaub, Anna Lentzsch, Dr. Gerhard Welsandt

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Magdeburg, Germany: Prof. Dr. Hagen Thieme, Dr. Melanie Weigel, Diyala Hidaya, Angela Ehmer

  • Department of Ophthalmology, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Germany: Prof. Dr. Siegfried Priglinger, Dr. Bettina von Livonius, Carina Drexler, Jessica Semmelsberger

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Münster, Germany: Prof. Dr. Nicole Eter, PD Dr. Florian Alten, Annika Sigleur, Dorothee Sieber, Andrea Bräutigam, Friederike Härter, Adeline Adorf

  • Department of Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital Münster, Germany: Prof. Dr. Daniel Pauleikhoff, Dr. Angela Robering

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Regensburg, Germany: Prof. Dr. Horst Helbig, Dr. Caroline Brandl

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tübingen, Germany: Prof. Dr. Focke Ziemssen, Dr. Daniel Röck

  • Institute for Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Germany: Prof. Dr. Frank Krummenauer, Sabrina Tulka, M. Sc.

  • Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Germany: Prof. Dr. Frank G. Holz, Prof. Dr. Robert P. Finger, Prof. Bettina Wabbels, Dr. David. G. Kupitz, Dr. Arno P. Göbel, Dr. Julia Steinberg, Dr. Petra P. Larsen, Anne Schnetzer, Bianka Kobialka, Beate Prinz, Danielle Kutten, Pia Schneider, Olivia Toczko, Thanushiya Yoganathan

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Larsen, P.P., Thiele, S., Krohne, T.U. et al. Visual impairment and blindness in institutionalized elderly in Germany. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 257, 363–370 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-4196-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-4196-1

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