The importance of assessing vision in falls management: A narrative review

Significance: A comprehensive falls assessment should include the assessment of key visual risk factors, namely, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereoacuity, to help prevent further falls in older adults. As a minimum, a thorough visual history and uniocular visual acuity assessment would allow appropriate onward referral for intervention. Purpose: Falls prevention is a global public health challenge. The etiology of falls is often complex due to multiple interacting risk factors contributing to postural instability in older adults. Despite national recommendations, the assessment of visual function is often overlooked in falls management. This may be due to a lack of clear guidance on key visual functions that need assessing in this patient group, professional roles, and responsibilities. This review gives an overview of visual risk factors for falls in older adults without cognitive impairment. It focuses on visual functions that can be assessed practically using standard clinical procedures. Possible test selection for a falls clinic or inpatient setting is discussed to help inform the implementation of vision assessments in falls management. Methods: Literature searches were conducted on Web of Science (1898 to current), MEDLINE (1946 to present), and APA PsycInfo (1887 to present) using relevant search terms and Boolean operators related to visual functions and falls. Retrospective and prospective studies including randomized controlled trials, observational, cohort, case-control, and qualitative studies were included. Results: Visual functions decline with age due to the normal aging process and age-related pathologies. Despite considerable heterogeneity across studies, the evidence supports the association of falls with declines in visual functions, including visual acuity, binocular single vision, and the visual field, but most notably contrast sensitivity and stereopsis. Existing vision screening tools, which assess multiple visual functions, are reviewed in light of their usefulness in falls. Conclusions: We recommend a vision assessment in the management of falls, which considers visual functions associated with falls, particularly contrast sensitivity and stereopsis. Existing vision screening tools could be adapted or developed for use in falls clinics or the inpatient setting. Eye health professionals should form part of falls multidisciplinary teams or offer training in assessing vision and help to develop intervention pathways for timely management of visual impairment.