New glasses: Beware of falling!

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MunichNew glasses should actually make the world more beautiful. At least in the case of older people, changing the visual aid harbors a risk of its own: it will make you fall more often.

With new glasses or after an eye operation, most people first have to get used to the new vision - even though it is better than before. "Older people in particular find it difficult to correctly assess distances after changing glasses," explains David Elliott. The scientist from the Bradford School of Optometry and Vision Science compared various studies that examined the relationship between new visual aids and falls in seniors.

Seeing better paradox

The result: those who actually see better fall more easily - at least in the first year after the changeover. This is illustrated very well by an Australian study: Here researchers examined a group of 300 test subjects over 70 years of age. 92 of them got new glasses, in 15 the eyesight was improved by an eye operation. In the first year after these measures, 65 percent of this group fell. In contrast, it was only 50 percent of those who had not received new visual aids.

Dangerous progressive lenses

Varifocal glasses or lenses have proven to be particularly dangerous - because they change viewing habits very significantly. Seniors over 70 who switch to such a visual aid fall twice as often as those who wear glasses who stick to the familiar double solution with one frame for close up and one for distance.

Dangerous falls

Falls are the leading cause of fatal household accidents or protracted bone fractures in people over 65 years of age. Around a third of this age group falls once a year - for those over 90 it is even 60 percent. In addition to age, there are other risk factors, such as certain medications or muscle weakness, that can make people fall more often.

Elliott concludes: “Ophthalmologists should keep these risk factors in mind when prescribing new visual aids for the elderly. In the case of patients who have already fallen very frequently, it may be better to leave everything as it was. "(Ab)

Source: Elliott D. B. et al .: The Glenn A. Fry Award Lecture 2013: Blurred Vision, Spectacle Correction, and Falls in Older Adults, Optometry and Vision Science, 2014

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