Visual Impairment, Age-Related Eye Diseases, and Cognitive Function The Singapore Malay Eye Study

Objective: To describe the associations of visual impairment and major age-related eye diseases with cognitive function in an older Asian population. Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional study of 1179 participants aged 60 to 80 years from the Singapore Malay Eye study was conducted. Visual acuity was measured using the logMAR vision chart. Cataract and age-related macular degeneration were graded using the Wisconsin Cataract Grading System and the Wisconsin Age-Related Maculopathy Grading System, respectively. Glaucoma was diagnosed using the International Society Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology criteria. Diabetic retin Results: After adjusting for age, sex, education level, income, and type of housing, persons with visual impairment before refractive correction (odds ratio [OR] = 2.59; 95% CI, 1.89-3.56) or after refractive correction (OR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.27-3.02) and those with visual impairment due to cataract (OR = 2.75; 95% CI, 1.35-5.63) were more likely to have cognitive dysfunction. Only moderate to severe diabetic retinopathy was independently associated with cognitive dysfunction (OR = 5.57; 95% CI, Conclusions: Older persons with visual impairment, particularly those with visual impairment due to cataract, were more likely to have cognitive dysfunction. Furthermore, among the major age-related eye diseases, only diabetic retinopathy was associated with cognitive dysfunction.