Visual Impairment in Hispanic/Latinx People May Be Associated With Worse Measures of Cognition

In a study conducted at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Hispanic/Latinx people with self-reported vision problems had worse verbal fluency, memory, and processing speed/executive function). This correlation was found both at baseline and after 7 years of follow-up, with visual impairment predicting cognitive decline 7 years later. 

Visual impairment was also correlated with daytime sleepiness, poor sleep quality, and insomnia symptoms. Sleep symptoms also correlated with decreased cognition at 7-year follow-up; however, the effects of sleep symptoms and visual impairment on cognition were independent of one another. These correlations were found after controlling for age, gender, vascular risk factors, and other comorbid conditions. 

Alberto Ramos, MD, professor of Clinical Neurology and Sleep Medicine at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and first author of the study noted, “We understand it is difficult to  gather all the information we would like during the brief time we have in clinical visits but finding ways to incorporate vision screening and taking a sleep history is an opportunity to make people feel better and increase their quality of life that may also improve the trajectory of their cognitive health. This also true for those within your family, within yourself, and within your community.”  

The study cohort (n=1,235) consisted of participants in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latino (HCHS/SOL) study Miami site and the Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-INCA) study. All participants completed an interview on self-reported visual impairment using the validated National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ) and completed a validated sleep questionnaire at base line and 7-year follow up as well as having objective testing for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) at both timepoints. 

Cognitive measures included the Brief Spanish - English Verbal Learning Test, Controlled Oral Word Association test, Digit Symbol Substitution, and at the SOL-INCA site only, the Trails-A and B tests.

These data were presented at the Alzheimer Association International Conference 2022 (AAIC2022) July 31-August 4th in San Diego, CA and online