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Association between vision impairment and cognitive decline in older adults with stroke: Health and Retirement Study

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Abstract

Stroke survivors may experience multiple residual symptoms post-stroke, including vision impairment (VI) and cognitive decline. Prior studies have shown that VI is associated with cognitive decline, but have not evaluated the contribution of VI to post-stroke cognitive changes. We used data from four waves (2010–2016) of the Health and Retirement Study to investigate the cognitive trajectories of stroke survivors with and without VI. Vision (excellent–very good[ref], good, fair–poor) and stroke diagnosis were self-reported. Cognition was defined using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status. Regression was used to model the association between vision and change in cognitive function, adjusting for confounders. The final sample included 1,439 stroke survivors and the average follow-up time was 4.1 years. Fair–poor overall (B = −1.30, p < 0.01), near (B = −1.53, p < 0.001), and distance (B = −1.27, p < 0.001) vision were associated with significantly lower baseline cognitive function. VI was not associated with the rate of cognitive decline. Future research should determine whether specific types of VI potentiate the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in stroke survivors.

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Fig. 1

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The Health and Retirement Study is publicly available.

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Funding

This funding supported the authors time to complete this work. K12 HD0055929 (PI: Ottenbacher); K01 AG058789 (PI: Downer); K23EY027848 (PI: Ehrlich). This paper’s contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH, NIA or NEI.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, School of Health Professions, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX, 77555-1137, USA

    Kimberly P. Hreha & Brian Downer

  2. Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX, 77555, USA

    Kimberly P. Hreha & Brian Downer

  3. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, 100 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105, USA

    Joshua R. Ehrlich

  4. Department of Family Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, School of Medicine, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX, 77555, USA

    Bret Howrey

  5. Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical Branch, School of Medicine, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX, 77555, USA

    Guilio Taglialatela

Authors
  1. Kimberly P. Hreha
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  2. Brian Downer
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  3. Joshua R. Ehrlich
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  4. Bret Howrey
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  5. Guilio Taglialatela
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Contributions

Kimberly Hreha, Brian Downer, and Joshua Ehrlich contributed to the study conception and design. Data analysis was performed by Brian Downer. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Kimberly Hreha and Brian Downer. All authors commented on versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kimberly P. Hreha.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This is an observational study, available to the public and deidentified. Therefore, ethical approval was waived by the local Ethics Committee at the University Texas Medical Branch.

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This is a retrospective review of publically available, de-identified human data. We ensured research integrity through our Institutional Review Board's guidance. No animal data was used.

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Hreha, K.P., Downer, B., Ehrlich, J.R. et al. Association between vision impairment and cognitive decline in older adults with stroke: Health and Retirement Study. Aging Clin Exp Res 33, 2605–2610 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01776-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01776-w

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