Risk of admission to a nursing home among older people with visual impairment in Great Britain

Objective: To assess the risk of nursing ionic admission in a representative sample of older, visually impaired, community-dwelling people 75 years and older living in Great Britain. Design: Prospective study. Setting: General practices (n=53) Participants: Participants in the Medical Research Council trial of assessment and management of older people in the community (N =14 037). Main Outcome Measure: Nursing home admission (nursing or residential care). Results: After a mean of 4 years' follow-up, 14.1% of visually impaired participants were living in nursing homes (95% confidence interval [CI] 11.9%-16.3% age- and sex-adjusted risk ratio, 1.47 [95% Cl, 1-25-1.73]). Adjusting for a wide range of confounding factors eliminated this significant association (risk ratio, 1.08 [95% CI, 0.91-1.28]). Conclusions: The association between visual impairment and risk of nursing home admission was eliminated after controlling for a wide range of other confounding factors and comorbidities. This underlines the importance of taking a wider view of an older person's health rather than focusing on a single impairment or disability.