Study: Good eyeglasses can be life-changing for the elderly

"Nursing home residents with proper eyeglasses enjoy life more and are less depressed than those with uncorrected vision problems, a study has found. Obvious? Perhaps, but nursing home residents have three to 15 times higher rates of uncorrected vision impairment than seniors living independently. Before testing their vision, researchers led by opthalmologist Cynthia Owsley scored 150 nursing home residents on scales of quality of life and depression. 'Some of the people had no glasses at all,' says Dr. Owsley, a professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. 'Some had glasses at one time, but they got lost. And some had glasses but the wrong prescription.' Half of the residents had their vision tested and corrected immediately with proper glasses. Two months later, both groups were retested for depression and how much they enjoyed life. Then, the second group had its vision tested and corrected. The study, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, found that those receiving glasses did better on follow up, reporting much less difficulty reading, looking at magazines, playing cards, watching television and reading a clock, Dr. Owsley says. 'They also had less psychological distress and were more"