Vision loss can have a devastating impact on thousands of lives
Vision loss can have a devastating impact on people’s lives. Not only those experiencing vision loss, but those who love and care about them.
People with vision loss are:
-
far less likely to be employed[1]
-
three times as likely to experience clinical depression[2]
-
twice as likely to fall and four times as likely to suffer hip fractures[3]
[1] Disability, education and the labour market: A longitudinal portrait for New Zealand – AUT January 2016
[2] Rovner B, Ganguli M. Depression and disability associated with impaired vision: the MoVies Project. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 1998;46:617-9.
[3] Klein BEK, Moss SE, Klein R et al. Associations of visual function with physical outcomes and limitations 5 years later in an older population. The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Ophthalmol 2003;110:644-650 Klein BEK, Klein R, Lee KE et al. Performance-based and self-assessed measures of visual function as related to history of falls, hip fractures and measured gait time. The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Ophthalmol 1998; 105:160-164