Living in Warm Average Temperatures Tied to Vision Impairment in Older Adults

FRIDAY, Aug. 4, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Consistently living in areas with higher average temperatures is associated with severe vision impairment in older adulthood, according to a study published online June 20 in Ophthalmic Epidemiology.

Esme Fuller-Thomson, Ph.D., from the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto, and colleagues examined the relationship between vision impairment and average area temperature in the general population. The analysis included data from 1.7 million older adults participating in the American Community Survey (2012 to 2017) and residing in the same state in which they were born.

The researchers found that higher average temperature was consistently associated with increased odds of severe vision impairment across all cohorts (i.e., age, sex, race, income, and educational attainment cohorts), with the exception of Hispanic older adults. The odds of severe vision impairment were 44 percent higher in counties with average temperature ≥60 degrees Fahrenheit (odds ratio, 1.44) compared with those who lived in counties with average temperature <50 degrees Fahrenheit.

"If the association is found to be causal, the predicted rise in global temperatures could impact the number of older Americans affected by severe vision impairment and the associated health and economic burden," the authors write.

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