Vision, Balance and Falls

Overview

Falls are an important and potentially preventable health problem for adults aged 65 years and older.

Visual impairment impacts on mobility performance, resulting in increased difficulties in obstacle avoidance and locomotion planning. The visual system is also a key sensory contributor to postural control; older adults with visual impairment show greater postural instability. Importantly, postural instability is a risk factor for falls.

The Vision, Balance and Falls research team is led by Dr Joanne Wood, a Professor in School of Optometry and Vision Science and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) at QUT. The group is part of the Institute's Vision Improvement Domain. Its program of research seeks to examine the associations between visual impairment from a range of ocular diseases and balance, mobility and falls risk.

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Research leader
Research team
QUT
Organisational unit
Lead unit Faculty of Health Other units
Research area
Vision Improvement
 

Details

Recent Research

The research team was involved in a large scale NHMRC Partnership grant 'Prevention of Older Peoples Injuries', which sought to investigate older peoples' injuries from falls and motor vehicle crashes. In particular, this research project examined the association between visual impairment, balance and falls in community-dwelling older adults, as well as a subset of older adults with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and demonstrated that reductions in contrast sensitivity and visual fields were associated with reduced postural stability and changes in walking patterns, which may increase the risk of falls. These findings have implications for the mobility, health outcomes and quality of life of this population.

The associations between visual impairment, functioning (health-related quality of life, functional status and postural control) and falls among older adults with glaucoma was explored as part of Alex Black's PhD project, under the supervision of Professors Joanne Wood, Jan Lovie-Kitchin and Beth Newman. In this study, visual impairment from glaucoma was found to be significantly associated with measures of functioning among older adults and was also seen to be an important predictor of future falls. These findings highlight the need to increase awareness of visual field loss, disability and falls among eye care professionals and patients, as well as the need to include visual field screening in falls risk assessments for older adults.

Ongoing Research Projects

Current projects in the vision, balance and falls research group include:

  • Association between visual impairment and falls among older adults with macular degeneration.
  • Impact of monocular cataract blur on postural control.
  • Examining eye movement patterns among visually impaired populations while walking.

Publications and output

  1. Wood JM, Lacherez P, Black AA, Cole M, Boon MY, Kerr G. (2009) Postural stability and gait among older adults with age-related maculopathy. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 50(1):482-7.
  2. Lacherez PF, Wood JM, Kerr GK. (2007) Does activity level mediate or suppress the association between fear of falling and falls? Letter to the Editor. Preventive Medicine, 46(6):609.
  3. Black AA, Wood JM, Lovie-Kitchin JE, Newman BM. (2008) Visual Impairment and postural sway among older adults with glaucoma. Optometry & Vision Science, 85: 489-497.
  4. Anstey KJ, Wood J, Kerr G, Caldwell H, Lord SR (2009) Different cognitive profiles for single compared with recurrent fallers without dementia. Neuropsychology, 23:500-8.
  5. Black A, Wood J. (2005) Vision and falls. Clin Exp Optom. 88: 212-222.
  6. Black A, Wood J. (2005). The relationship between glaucoma and falls in older Australians: a prospective study. In M. Underwood & S. K (ed.), 4th National Conference for Emerging Researchers in Ageing (pp. 61-64). Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland Press.
  7. Black, A, Lovie-Kitchin, J, Woods, R, Arnold, N, Byrne, J, & Murrish, J. (1997). Mobility performance in retinitis pigmentosa. Clin Exp Optom, 80, 1-12.