American Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume 127, Issue 4 , Pages 447-452 , April 1999

The relationship of self-rated vision and hearing to functional status and well-being among seniors 70 years and older

  • Paul Lee, MD (JD)

      Affiliations

    • RAND, Santa Monica, California, USA (Drs Lee, Smith and Kington)
    • Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA (Dr Lee)
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests to Paul Lee, MD, JD, RAND, 1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138; fax: (310) 451-6917;
  • ,
  • James P Smith, PhD

      Affiliations

    • RAND, Santa Monica, California, USA (Drs Lee, Smith and Kington)
    • Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA (Dr Lee)
  • ,
  • Raynard Kington, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • RAND, Santa Monica, California, USA (Drs Lee, Smith and Kington)
    • the National Center for Health Statistics, Baltimore, Maryland, USA (Dr Kington)

,Accepted 27 October 1998.

References 

  1. Felson DR, Anderson JJ, Hannan MT, et al.  Impaired vision and hip fracture (the Framingham Study). J Am Geriatr Soc. 1989;10:727–738
  2. Lee PP, Spritzer K, Hays RD. The impact of blurred vision on functioning and well-being. Ophthalmology. 1997;104:390
  3. Kington R, Lillard L, Rogowski J, Lee P. The functional associations “trouble seeing”. J Gen Intern Med. 1997;12:125–128
  4. Salive ME, Guralnik J, Glynn RJ, Christen W, Wallace RB, Ostfeld AM. Association of visual impairment with mobility and physical function. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1994;42:287–292
  5. Legro MW. Quality of life and cataracts (a review of patient-centered studies of cataract surgery outcomes). Ophthalmic Surg. 1991;22:431–443
  6. Laforge RB, Spector WD, Sternberg J. The relationship of vision and hearing impairment to one-year mortality and functional decline. J Aging Health. 1992;4:126–148
  7. Mangione CM, Lee PP, Hays R. Measurement of visual functioning of health-related quality of life in eye disease and cataract surgery. In:  Spilker B editors. Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials. 2nd ed.. New York: Raven; 1995;p. 1045–1051
  8. Salive ME, Guralnik J, Christen W, et al.  Functional blindness and visual impairment in older adults from three communities. Ophthalmology. 1992;99:1840–1847
  9. MacKenzie DM, Copp P, Shaw RJ, Goodwin GM. Brief cognitive screening of the elderly (a comparison of the Mini-Mental state examination, Abbreviated Mental Test and Mental Status Questionnaire). Psychol Med. 1996;26:427–430
  10. Mulrow CD, Aguilar C, Endicott JE, et al.  Association between hearing impairment and the quality of life of elderly individuals. Ann Intern Med. 1990;38:45–50
  11. Bess FH, Lichtenstein MJ, Logan SA, Burger MC, Nelson E. Hearing impairment as a determinant of function in the elderly. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1989;37:123–128
  12. Osterweil D, Martin M, Syndulko K. Predictors of skilled nursing home placement in a multilevel long-term-care facility. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1995;43:108–112
  13. Uhlmann RF, Larson EB, Koepsell TD. Hearing impairment and cognitive decline in senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1986;34:207–210
  14. Soldo J, Hurd MD, Rodgers WL, Wallace RB. Asset and health dynamics among the oldest old (an overview of the AHEAD Study). J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 1997;52B:1–20
  15. Smith JP. Racial and ethnic differences in wealth in the health and retirement study. J Hum Resources. 1995;30:S158–S183
  16. Lazaridis EN, Rudberg MA, Furner SE, Cassel CK. Do activities of daily living have a hierarchical structure? An analysis using the longitudinal study of aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1994;49:M47–M51
  17. Sui AL, Reuben DB, Hayes RD. Hierarchical measures of physical function in ambulatory geriatrics. J Amer Geriatr Soc. 1990;38:1113–1119
  18. Finch M, Kane RL, Philp I. Developing a new metric for ADLs. J Amer Geriatr Soc. 1995;43:877–884
  19. Reuben DB. What’s wrong with ADLs?. J Amer Geriatr Soc. 1995;43:936–937
  20. Strawbridge WJ, Camacho TC, Cohen RD, Kaplan GA. Gender differences in factors associated with change in physical functioning in old age (a 6-year longitudinal study). Gerontologist. 1993;33:603–609
  21. Lammi UK, Kivela SL, Nissinen A, Puska P, Karvonen M. Predictors of physical disability in elderly Finnish men (a longitudinal study). J Clin Epidemiol. 1989;42:1215–1225
  22. Kington RS, Smith JP. Socioeconomic status and racial and ethnic differences in functional status associated with chronic diseases. Amer J Public Health. 1997;87:805–810
  23. Hurd MD. The economic status of the elderly. Science. 1989;244:659–664
  24. Smith JP. Wealth inequality among older Americans. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 1997;52B:74–81
  25. Suits DB, Mason A, Chan L. Spline functions fitted by standard regression methods. Rev Econ Stat. 1978;60:132–139
  26. Amemiya T. Tobit models (a survey). J Econometrics. 1984;24:3–61
  27. Tinetti ME, Inouye SK, Gill TM, Doucette JT. Shared risk factors for falls, incontinence, and functional dependence. Unifying the approach to geriatric syndromes. JAMA. 1995;273:1381–1383
  28. Appollonio I, Carabellese C, Frattola L, Trabucchi M. Effects of sensory aids on the quality of life and mortality of elderly people (a multivariate analysis). Age Ageing. 1996;25:89–96
  29. Smith JP, Kington R. Demographic and economic correlates of health in old age. Demography. 1997;34:159–170
  30. Bourque LB, Cosand BB, Drews C, Waring GO, et al.  Reported satisfaction, fluctuation of vision, and glare among patients one year after surgery in the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy (PERK) study. Arch Ophthalmol. 1986;104:356–363

 Supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (5PO-AG08291) and Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc, New York, New York.

PII: S0002-9394(98)00418-8

American Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume 127, Issue 4 , Pages 447-452 , April 1999