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Environmental Features Contributing to Falls in Persons With Vision Impairment: The Role of Home Lighting and Home Hazards
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Environmental Features Contributing to Falls in Persons With Vision Impairment: The Role of Home Lighting and Home Hazards

Pradeep Y Ramulu, Aleksandra Mihailovic, Jian-Yu E, Rhonda B Miller, Sheila K West, Laura N Gitlin and David S Friedman
American journal of ophthalmology, v 230
Oct 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2021.04.022
PMID: 33951447
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2021.04.022View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze),  Open

Abstract

Aged Female Glaucoma Humans Lighting Prospective Studies Visual Fields
To evaluate whether home hazards and lighting levels are associated with higher fall rates in adults with varying degrees of visual field (VF) damage from glaucoma. Participants with diagnosed or suspected glaucoma provided three years of prospective falls data via monthly falls diaries. A post-fall telephone questionnaire determined fall locations. Seven home areas were evaluated for hazards and lighting via an in-home assessment. Multivariate models adjusting for relevant confounders, including age, sex, comorbidity, and severity of VF damage, evaluated the influence of hazards and lighting on fall rates in each home region. Mean baseline age for the 170 participants was 71.0 (7.6) years and 78 (46%) of participants were female. Fifty-nine participants experienced a total of 83 home falls, with the greatest number of falls occurring on the indoor stairs (n = 24, 29%) and bedroom (n = 17, 21%). Neither the number nor the percentage of hazardous items graded as hazardous was associated with the rate of falls (P > .26). Each 10-fold increase in room lighting was associated with 35% fewer falls in that home region (P = .02). The relation between lighting and the rate of falls did not differ with the degree of visual field damage (P > .3), and a lower fall rate was noted with better lighting even in participants with mild or no VF damage (rate ratio = 0.52/10-fold better lighting; P = 0.01). Fewer home falls were found with better lighting, but not with fewer home hazards. Lighting improvements at home may reduce fall rates in older adults. NOTE: Publication of this article is sponsored by the American Ophthalmological Society.

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6 Record Views
10 citations in Web of Science
8 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Ophthalmology
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