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. 2021 Nov 2;18(21):11536.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111536.

Serious Life Events in People with Visual Impairment Versus the General Population

Audun Brunes  1 , Trond Heir  1   2
Affiliations

Serious Life Events in People with Visual Impairment Versus the General Population

Audun Brunes et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the lifetime exposure to serious life events in people with visual impairment compared with the general population. Data were derived from a telephone survey including a probability sample of 736 adults with visual impairment (response rate: 61%). The lifetime prevalence of direct experiences with seventeen different categories of serious life events (Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5)) were compared to that obtained from the general Norwegian population (N = 1792, 36% response rate). Altogether, 68% of people with visual impairment had been directly exposed to at least one serious life event, with equal rates among males and females (p = 0.59). The prevalence of serious life events was higher than for the general population (60%, p < 0.001), especially for fire or explosions, serious accidents, sexual assaults, life-threatening illness or injury, and severe human suffering. In conclusion, our results indicate that people with visual impairment are more prone to experiencing serious life events. This highlights the need for preventive strategies that reduce the risk of serious life events in this population.

Keywords: accidents; assaults; blindness; prevention; serious life events; visual impairment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Direct exposure to serious life events in people with visual impairment (N = 736) compared with the general population (N = 1792). * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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