Improving vision to prevent falls: a randomized trial

超过30%的澳大利亚老年人每年至少摔倒一次。视力不佳是澳大利亚老年人的另一个常见问题，它会增加摔倒的风险。事实上，蓝山眼科研究最近的证据表明，视力不佳是目前已确定的跌倒和骨折的最大风险因素之一。我们的项目旨在评估视力的改善是否会减少跌倒和骨折的几率。我们将从悉尼内西郊参加社区老年护理服务的老年人中招募1200名75岁及以上的老年人。如果他们同意参与，人们将被随机分配到干预组或对照组。干预组将接受简单而全面的一系列视力和眼睛测试。这些测试将由验光师在受试者家中或在研究中心进行。我们之前的研究表明，近50%的受试者将从戴新眼镜中受益，10%的人可能需要白内障手术。如有必要，治疗费用将由研究基金支付。有些视力问题是无法修复的。在这些情况下，职业治疗师会安排适当的家庭改造，以改善视力相关的功能。受试者将被随访12个月，以评估干预组和对照组的跌倒频率。我们希望干预组能减少33%的跌倒。我们将对受试者进行一年的随访以确定骨折。

More than 30% of older Australians fall over at least once a year. Poor eyesight, another very common problem among older Australians, increases the risk of falling. In fact, recent evidence from the Blue Mountains Eye Study suggests that poor vision is one of the strongest risk factors for falls and fractures yet identied. Our project is designed to assess whether improving vision will decrease the chance of falls and fractures. We will recruit 1200 people aged 75 years and over from among those attending community-based aged care services in the inner western suburbs of Sydney. If they consent to participate, people will be randomly allocated to either an intervention or control group. Those in the intervention group will receive a simple, yet comprehensive, series of vision and eye tests. These tests will be done by an optometrist, either in subjects' homes or at the study centre. Our previous research suggests that nearly 50% of subjects will benefit from having new glasses and 10% might require cataract surgery. If necessary, treatment will be paid for from study funds. Some vision problems cannot be fixed. In these cases, an occupational therapist will arrange appropriate home modifications to improve vision-related function. Subjects will be followed-up for 12 months to assess the frequency of falls in the intervention and control groups. We hope to find a 33% reduction in falls in the intervention group. We will follow subjects for a further year to identify fractures.