Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 24;23(1):688.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-04393-0.

Associations between vision impairment and multimorbidity among older Chinese adults: results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

Kun Xiong  1 , Huiyan Mao  1 , Qi'ao Zhang  1 , Changrong Lei  1 , Yuanbo Liang  2
Affiliations

Associations between vision impairment and multimorbidity among older Chinese adults: results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

Kun Xiong et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: Although several studies have reported the relationship between vision impairment (VI) and multimorbidity in high-income countries, this relationship has not been reported in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to explore the relationship between VI with multimorbidity and chronic conditions among the elderly Chinese population.

Methods: The cross-sectional analysis was applied to data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018. A total of 8,108 participants ≥ 60 years old were included, and 15 chronic conditions were used in this study. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between VI with multimorbidity and chronic conditions.

Results: The prevalence of 15 chronic conditions and multimorbidity was higher among the elderly with VI than those without VI. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic confounders, 10 chronic conditions were associated with VI (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, positive association was observed between VI and one (odds ratio [OR]: 1.52; 95% confidence intervals [95%CI]: 1.16-2.00; P = 0.002), two (OR: 2.09; 95%CI: 1.61-2.71; P < 0.001), three (OR: 2.87; 95%CI: 2.22-3.72; P < 0.001), four (OR: 3.60; 95%CI: 2.77-4.69; P < 0.001), and five or more (OR: 5.53; 95%CI: 4.32-7.09; P < 0.001) chronic conditions, and the association increased as the number of chronic conditions (P for trend < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis stratified by gender, education, smoking status, and annual per capita household expenditure still found VI to be positively associated with multimorbidity.

Conclusions: For patients older than 60 years, VI was independently associated with multimorbidity and various chronic conditions. This result has important implications for healthcare resource plans and clinical practice, for example, increased diabetes and kidney function screening for patients with VI.

Keywords: Chronic conditions; Elderly; Low- and middle-income countries; Multimorbidity; Vision impairment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart depicting this study’s participant selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence for multimorbidities and chronic conditions among people with and without vision impairment
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. van den Akker M, Buntinx F, Metsemakers JF, Roos S, Knottnerus JA. Multimorbidity in general practice: prevalence, incidence, and determinants of co-occurring chronic and recurrent Diseases. J Clin Epidemiol. 1998;51(5):367–75. doi: 10.1016/S0895-4356(97)00306-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chowdhury SR, Chandra Das D, Sunna TC, Beyene J, Hossain A. Global and regional prevalence of multimorbidity in the adult population in community settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. EClinicalMedicine. 2023;57:101860. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101860. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dugravot A, Fayosse A, Dumurgier J, et al. Social inequalities in multimorbidity, frailty, disability, and transitions to mortality: a 24-year follow-up of the Whitehall II cohort study. Lancet Public Health. 2020;5(1):e42–e50. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30226-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Makovski TT, Schmitz S, Zeegers MP, Stranges S, van den Akker M. Multimorbidity and quality of life: systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Ageing Res Rev. 2019;53:100903. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2019.04.005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Palladino R, Tayu Lee J, Ashworth M, Triassi M, Millett C. Associations between multimorbidity, healthcare utilisation and health status: evidence from 16 European countries. Age Ageing. 2016;45(3):431–5. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afw044. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources