Abstract

We decided to conduct a study to determine the prevalence of visual impairment, blindness, refractive errors, and other visual functions in nursing homes of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 133 elderly persons were selected from seven nursing homes using proportional-to-size random sampling. A Snellen chart was used to measure visual acuity (VA). Refraction was measured in all participants using autorefractometry and retinoscopy. A cover test was applied to assess ocular deviation. Stereopsis, color vision, and contrast sensitivity were evaluated with distance glasses. The prevalence (95 confidence interval CI) of visual impairment (VI) (<20/60), low vision (<20/60 to <20/400), and blindness (<= 20/400) was 41.88% (32.81-50.95), 32.48% (23.87-41.09), and 9.40% (4.03-14.77), respectively, based on best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). The prevalence of myopia (spherical equivalent (SE) < -0.5 D), hyperopia (SE < 0.5 D), and astigmatism (cylindrical power < 0.5 D) was 53.50% (44.19-62.58), 36.84% (28.38-46.19), and 86.84% (79.17-91.97), respectively. VI and refractive errors had no association with age and sex (p-value > .05 for all). The prevalence of other ocular diseases was as follows: cataract 66.06% (57.02-75.09), glaucoma 1.52% (1.85-5.40), one eyed caused by injury 6.10% (2.67-11.67), and corneal opacity 3.81% (1.25-8.68). The prevalence of VI was 4-20 times and the prevalence of cataract was 3-4 times higher in NHRs compared with community-dwelling older people, indicating the grave situation of vision in these people. It is necessary to conduct further studies to find the reasons behind this disparity and perform interventions, including periodic and screening examinations upon entry to nursing homes to decrease the burden of ocular diseases in NHRs.