Purpose: To investigate the risk of visual impairment (VI) according to the presence or absence of four diseases: hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Methods: VI was defined as a presenting visual acuit...
Purpose: To investigate the risk of visual impairment (VI) according to the presence or absence of four diseases: hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Methods: VI was defined as a presenting visual acuity of 0.5 or less in the better eye. The participants were divided into 12 groups according to the presence or absence of diseases. The risk of VI in each disease group was analyzed comparing with other groups.
Results: The number of participants with VI was 88,931 (8.89%). The ORs of HTN, DM, glaucoma, and DR for VI were 1.11, 1.07, 0.92, and 1.29, respectively (all P < 0.001). The group with HTN, DM, glaucoma, and DR showed the highest OR of 1.98 (P < 0.001) compared to the healthy group. HTN, DM, and DR showed a positive correlation with VI in all groups. Glaucoma showed positive correlation with VI in group with DM and DR, and group with HTN, DM, and DR(ORs 1.18, 1.11, all P < 0.05); however, they demonstrated a negative correlation with the other groups(ORs 0.85–0.93, all P < 0.05).
Conclusion: HTN, DM, and DR either alone or in combination with other diseases increased the VI risk. Glaucoma also increased the risk of VI when combined with DR; however, it had a negative correlation in the absence of DR. It is presumed that periodic ophthalmic examinations for glaucoma, which primarily affects the peripheral visual field and not central visual acuity, might have an effect in preventing VI caused by other diseases.