Hajek A, Brettschneider C, Lühmann D, Eisele M, Mamone S, Wiese B, Weyerer S, Werle J, Pentzek M, Fuchs A, Stein J, Luck T, Bickel H, Weeg D, Heser K, Jessen F, Maier W, Scherer M, Riedel-Heller S G, König H-H
Dr. André Hajek, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Health Economics and Health Services Research, Hamburg Center for Health Economics, Telephone +49 40 7410 52877; Fax +49 40 7410 40261, E-mail:
J Nutr Health Aging. 2017;21(6):692-698. doi: 10.1007/s12603-016-0768-0.
To investigate how visual impairment affects social ties in late life longitudinally.
Population-based prospective cohort study.
Individuals in old age were recruited via general practitioners' offices (at six study centers) in Germany. They were interviewed every 18 months.
Individuals aged 75 years and above at baseline. Follow-up wave 2 (36 months after baseline, n=2,443) and wave 4 (72 months after baseline, n=1,618) were used for the analyses presented here.
Social ties were assessed using the 14-item form of the questionnaire for social support (F-SozU K-14). Visual impairment was self-rated on a three level Likert scale (no impairment, mild visual impairment, or severe/profound visual impairment).
Adjusting for sociodemographic factors, hearing impairment and comorbidity, fixed effects regressions revealed that the onset of mild visual impairment decreased the social support score, in particular the emotional support score. Additionally, the onset of mild hearing impairment decreased the social support score in men. Moreover, increasing age decreased the social support score in the total sample and in both sexes. Loss of spouse and increasing comorbidity did not affect the social support score.
Our results highlight the importance of visual impairment for social ties in late life. Consequently, appropriate strategies in order to delay visual impairment might help to maintain social ties in old age.
纵向研究视力障碍如何影响晚年的社会关系。
基于人群的前瞻性队列研究。
通过德国的全科医生办公室（在六个研究中心）招募老年人。每18个月对他们进行一次访谈。
基线时年龄在75岁及以上的个体。此处分析使用随访第2波（基线后36个月，n = 2443）和第4波（基线后72个月，n = 1618）。
使用社会支持问卷的14项形式（F-SozU K-14）评估社会关系。视力障碍通过三级李克特量表进行自评（无损伤、轻度视力障碍或重度/极重度视力障碍）。
在对社会人口学因素、听力障碍和合并症进行调整后，固定效应回归显示，轻度视力障碍的出现会降低社会支持得分，尤其是情感支持得分。此外，轻度听力障碍的出现会降低男性的社会支持得分。而且，年龄增长会降低总样本以及男女两性的社会支持得分。配偶去世和合并症增加并未影响社会支持得分。
我们的结果凸显了视力障碍对晚年社会关系的重要性。因此，采取适当策略延缓视力障碍可能有助于维持老年人的社会关系。
