Visual Impairment in Elderly: Impact on Daily Life and Care Needs

This essay examines the issue of visual impairment among the elderly, highlighting its prevalence and the primary causes such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. It notes that conditions like open-angle glaucoma damage the optic nerves, while AMD leads to macular degeneration, and cataracts cause lens opacification. The essay emphasizes the difficulties faced by visually impaired older adults, including poor health, hygiene, reduced quality of life, and poverty. It points out that vision loss impacts their ability to manage daily activities, perform household tasks, and maintain personal care, leading to increased dependence on others. The essay concludes by stressing the importance of immediate care services for elderly individuals diagnosed with visual impairment.

Running head: VISION
Student name
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Title: Visual Impairment among the Elderly

VISION
As people get older, the normal functioning of the eye tissues become impaired and
conditions of ocular pathology increase. About 3.3 million adults aged 40 and above are
reported to have vision impairment (Elliott, McGwin, Kline and Owsley, 2015). Researchers
claim that visual impairment among the elderly is caused by age related macular degeneration
(AMD), cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Open angle glaucoma damages the optic
nerves and causes central vision loss. The predisposing factors for primary open angle
glaucoma are family history, hypertension aging and diabetes. AMD reports more cases of
visual impairment and is characterized by degeneration of the macula. Cataracts is among
the leading cause of blindness among the old. Nuclear cataracts has been associated with
central lens opacification (Pan et al. 2016). The nucleus becomes yellow or brown and loses
its transparency.
Many older people with visual impairment are faced with difficulties associated with
poor health conditions, poor hygiene, poor quality of life and poverty. When one losses their
vision, they loss the opportunity to manage their day to day life activities (Magnus and Vik,
2016). The elderly facing visual impairment could remain social with family and friend but
cannot perform little household activities and their personal care (Dagnelie, 2013). The
elderly therefore need immediate care services once diagnosed with visual impairment. They
therefore depend on others for care.

VISION
References
Dagnelie G. (2013). Age-related psychophysical changes and low vision. Investigative
ophthalmology & visual science, 54(14), ORSF88-93. doi:10.1167/iovs.13-12934
Elliott, A. F., McGwin, G., Kline, L. B., & Owsley, C. (2015). Vision Impairment among
Older Adults Residing in Subsidized Housing Communities. The Gerontologist, 55
Suppl. 1, S108-17. Doi: 10.1093/geront/gnv028
Magnus, E. and Vik, K. (2016). Older Adults Recently Diagnosed with Age Related Vision
Loss: Readjusting to Everyday Life. Journal of Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 40:4,
296-319, DOI: 10.1080/01924788.2016.1231460
Pan, C. W., Qian, D. J., Sun, H., Ma, Q., Xu, Y. and Song, E. (2016). Visual impairment
among older adults in rural community in Eastern China. Journal of Ophthalmology,
Vol. 2016, Article ID 9620542, pp. 6-9. Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9620542