Dementia link to visual impairment found

A parliamentary launch was held this week for new research on the link between dementia and visual impairment.

The PrOVIDe research, led by the College of Optometrists, identified higher levels of visual impairment among people with dementia in comparison to the general population.

It found an increased 32.5% of people with dementia had visual acuity worse than 6/12, and 16.3% worse than 6/18. Almost 50% of them were no longer classified as visually impaired when wearing their up-to-date spectacle prescription, the College added.

Visual impairment was also found to be around twice as common for people with dementia living in care homes than for those living at home.