Hypertension Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Hypertension, including details on symptoms, diagnosis, diet, treatment, causes.

Sociodemographic, lifestyle, and medical risk factors for visual impairment in an urban asian population: the singapore malay eye study.

Chong EW, Lamoureux EL, Jenkins MA, Aung T, Saw SM, Wong TY

FRCSE, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, 32 Gisborne St, East Melbourne 3002, Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the associations between sociodemographic, lifestyle, and medical risk factors and visual impairment in a Southeast Asian population. METHODS: Population-based cross-sectional study of 3280 (78.7% response rate) Malay Singaporeans aged 40 to 80 years. Participants underwent a standardized interview, in which detailed sociodemographic histories were obtained, and clinical assessments for presenting and best-corrected visual acuity. Visual impairment (logMAR > 0.30) was classified as unilateral (1 eye impaired) or bilateral (both eyes impaired). Analyses used multivariate-adjusted multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Older age and lack of formal education was associated with increased odds of both unilateral and bilateral visual impairment based on presenting and best-corrected visual acuity. The odds doubled for each decade older, and lower education increased the odds 1.59- to 2.83-fold. Bilateral visual impairment was associated with being unemployed (odds ratio [OR], 1.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-2.60), widowed status (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.13-2.01), and higher systolic blood pressure (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.44-2.66). Diabetes was associated with unilateral (OR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.10-1.95) and bilateral (OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.23-2.32) visual impairment using best-corrected visual acuity. CONCLUSIONS: Older age, lower education, unemployment, being widowed, diabetes, and hypertension were independently associated with bilateral visual impairment. Public health interventions should be targeted to these at-risk populations.

Published 16 December 2009 in Arch Ophthalmol, 127(12): 1640-7.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2010 Hypertension Research Today. All Rights Reserved.