Relationship of visual dependence to age, balance, attention, and vertigo.
Shu-Chun Lee
PMID 28878455WHAT IT FOUND
Some older adults relied heavily on vision, but visually independent older adults were similar to younger adults.
The visually dependent older adults were less steady when vision and footing were both altered, even though they reported little vertigo.
Key findings
01Visually dependent older adults had greater postural sway in balance conditions C5 and C6 than younger adults, and in condition C6 than visually independent older adults.
02Dual-task cost did not differ between younger adults, visually independent older adults and visually dependent older adults.
03Visually dependent older adults reported significantly lower situational vertigo scores than younger adults.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used only 12 people in each group. The older adults were chosen as the highest and lowest visual dependence groups, so they may not represent a normal older population. Participants were healthy community adults and were excluded if they had neurological, vestibular or proprioceptive impairment, uncorrected visual impairment worse than 20/40, or more than one fall in the past year. The study compared groups at one time and did not test an intervention, so it does not show that changing visual dependence would change balance. The dual-task test did not include visual interference, which may have made dual-task cost insensitive. Situational vertigo scores were very low in all groups, so the vertigo finding may not apply to patients with vestibular disorders.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that older adults are more visually dependent than younger adults because age alone causes it. The visually independent older adults had similar tilt values to younger adults, and the older adults were selected as the highest and lowest visual dependence groups.