People with difficulty [seeing](https://www.mcknights.com/news/key-study-links-sight-loss-with-dementia/) close up have higher odds of recurrent hospitalizations, according to a new study. Researchers did not find higher hospitalization odds for those who had a hard time seeing farther, or those with contrast issues.
The team used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), the participants of which include Medicare beneficiaries. Investigators analyzed vision impairments and took into account which people had been hospitalized within the year, detailing their findings in a [report](https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.19308) published Monday in the _Journal of the American Geriatrics Society._
There were a total of 2,960 participants with a median age of 81 years old in 2021. People with any type of vision impairment had a larger probability for hospitalization compared to those without vision impairments. The probability of recurrent hospitalizations was also higher in those with vision issues compared to those without vision problems. People with difficulty seeing close up, such as reading, had more than a two-fold higher odds of recurrent hospitalization compared to those without problems seeing.
Investigators aren’t sure of the mechanism in the body that links poor vision with recurrent hospitalizations. One theory is that those who can’t see close may be less able to ready medication labels, discharge rules or other health information. Another possibility is that diet and therapy may be harder for those with vision impairments.
Authors of the study said that research in the future should look at whether or not improving near vision can lower the likelihood of recurrent hospitalizations. The researchers would like to know how much of the association between vision problems and hospitalizations is a result of uncorrected vision compared to other causes of vision impairments such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Some research says correcting vision with reading glasses, which can be corrective, can boost productivity and improve quality of life, the authors pointed out.