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Self‐reported visual dysfunction in Parkinson disease: the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe
Author(s) -
Hamedani A. G.,
Willis A. W.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.14092
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , epidemiology , logistic regression , confidence interval , confounding , visual impairment , demography , population , cross sectional study , gerontology , environmental health , psychiatry , pathology , sociology
Background and purpose Visual dysfunction is a non‐motor symptom of Parkinson disease (PD), but its prevalence is unknown as population‐based data on the epidemiology of visual symptoms in PD are lacking. The objective was to determine the prevalence of visual dysfunction in PD. Methods This was a cross‐sectional analysis of data from adults ≥50 years old in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a multinational population‐based health survey of adults living in one of 27 European countries and Israel. PD diagnosis was self‐reported. Impairment in overall, distance or near eyesight was defined as a score of 4 or 5 on a 1–5 scale. Adjusted logistic regression was used to determine the association between PD and self‐reported vision. Results There were 115 240 age‐eligible participants in the SHARE study (mean age 64.3 years, 54% female), of whom 1438 (1.25%) reported a diagnosis of PD. In adjusted logistic regression models, PD was associated with increased odds of impaired overall [odds ratio (OR) 2.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.91–3.72], distance (OR 2.55, 95% CI 2.04–3.19) and near (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.69–2.55) eyesight. Individuals with PD were also less likely to report having an eye examination within the previous 2 years (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.38–0.92), but this did not remain statistically significant after adjusting for confounders (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.47–1.24). Conclusions Visual dysfunction is significantly more common in PD than in the general adult population. Visual symptoms are a potentially under‐recognized and under‐treated source of reduced quality of life in PD patients that require further attention and study.