Around four million older people in the UK do not have regular eye tests, putting themselves at risk of a serious fall, delegates at this week's Dignity and Independence: Transforming eye care for older people conference were told.
Yet UK research indicates that up to half of all people aged over 65 have a visual impairment which can be corrected or improved.
Simply wearing the right spectacle prescription would correct the vision of 17 per cent of those over 65, and 30 per cent of those over 75.
Falls are the most common and serious type of accident among the elderly, leading to loss of confidence, loss of independence, social isolation, activity limitation and, in more severe cases, hip fractures and death.
Poor vision, according to David Elliot, professor of clinical vision science at Bradford University, was a major contributing factor in falls, given people rely primarily on this sense to negotiate steps and spot hazards. He noted that recent research showed that 51 per cent of fallers had some visual impairment - and of these, 60 per cent had not had an eye test in the past three years.
Yet Richard Wormald, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, noted that although free screening was available to everyone over the age of 60, this was not enough. 'We have to do more than screen people, we also have to motivate them to do something about their eyesight. A prime example is cataracts. The majority of people who are told they have a cataract do not actually undergo surgery,' he said. This was despite a 90 per cent success rate.
Social inequalities in eye health also had to be recognised, as poorer people were more likely to present later with eye diseases such as cataracts and glaucoma, and less likely to seek treatment for age-related macular degeneration.
Minister for care services Ivan Lewis said much had already been achieved in eye care, noting the success of cataract surgery and the screening under the national service framework for diabetes.
'The eye care service can have a significant impact on improving the independence of older people and vulnerable adults,' he said.
The conference was staged by the Eye Health Alliance in conjunction with the Royal National Institute of the Blind and Help the Aged.