Glasses prevent fall risk among elderly

Wearing glasses for distant vision while going outdoors cuts the risk of falls in elderly people.

Multifocus glasses correct both close and distant vision. While such glasses are convenient, studies have shown that their wearers have a high risk of falls when outside their homes and walking up or down stairs as these types of glasses impair distant depth perception, which could impair an older person's balance.

To test whether an additional pair of single lens distance glasses for wearing when outdoors or in unfamiliar settings would help to reduce falls in the elderly, researchers identified 606 Australians who were 70 years old on average, who wore multifocal glasses.

Roughly half of them were prescribed a pair of single lens glasses for distant vision and were instructed to wear them outdoors and in unfamiliar settings. They also received advice on how to cut their risk of falling. The other half acting as the control group continued to wear their multifocal glasses with lenses and did not receive falls prevention advice.

During the follow-up of 13 months, nearly 350 people fell about 950 times. The total number of falls in the single lens-wearers was reduced by 8 percent compared with the control group. For those who regularly went outdoors, all falls, outside falls and falls resulting in injury fell by a significant 40 percent. However, for those who spent more time inside, outside falls increased significantly. This may indicate that more cloistered (perhaps frailer) older people are less likely to benefit from a predominantly outdoor fall-prevention intervention. There was no indication that falls occurred at the time of switching from multifocal to single lens glasses.

This study shows that single lens glasses for distant vision benefit older adults who are active and often go outside home.