Near vision impairment among the elderly in residential care—the Hyderabad Ocular Morbidity in Elderly Study (HOMES)

Background/objective: To report on the prevalence and risk factors for near vision impairment (NVI) among the elderly in residential care in Telangana State in India. Methods: Individuals aged ≥60 years were recruited from 41 ‘home for the aged’ centres in Hyderabad, India. All participants had complete eye examinations including presenting and best-corrected visual acuity assessment for distance and near. NVI was defined as binocular presenting near vision worse than N8 (6/15) among those who had a normal presenting distance visual acuity of 6/18 in the better eye. Results: Of the 826 participants, the mean age was 74.4 years (standard deviation—8.4 years), 525 (63.6%) were women, 715 (86.6%) had at least school education. The prevalence of NVI was 51.2% (95% CI: 47.7–54.7) based on presenting vision. On applying multiple logistic regression analysis, the odds of NVI were higher in 80 years and older age (OR: 2.17; 95% CI: 3.44–13.6). Those with school education (OR: 0.58: 95% CI: 0.36–0.94) and higher education (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.21–0.69) had lower odds for NVI. Similarly, those with self-reported diabetes (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.49–0.97), those using spectacles (OR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.05–0.16), and those who had undergone cataract surgery (OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.36–0.74) had lower odds for NVI. Conclusions: NVI was common among the elderly in residential care in homes for the aged in Hyderabad, India. As most of this NVI is correctable, a routine screening programme and dispensing of spectacles can be undertaken to address this vision loss.