Presence of Vision Impairment and Risk of Hospitalization among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries

PURPOSE: To examine the association between vision impairment and all-cause hospitalization among elderly Medicare beneficiaries. METHODS: A population-based study (N = 22,681) of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older who participated in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey for the years 2001-2007. Beneficiaries were classified into self-reported presence of vision impairment versus no vision impairment. Inpatient hospitalizations were identified using Medicare claims data. A multivariable Cox proportional hazard model examined the association between presence of vision impairment and time to first hospitalization within 3 years of survey entry after adjusting for sociodemographics, comorbidities, hearing impairment, and activity limitation stages derived from difficulty performing the activities of daily living. RESULTS: Medicare beneficiaries who self-reported the presence of vision impairment were significantly more likely to be hospitalized over 3 years compared to beneficiaries without vision impairment even after adjustment for potentially influential covariates (hazard ratio = 1.14 and 95% confidence interval: 1.05-1.23). CONCLUSIONS: Medicare beneficiaries with self-reported vision impairment were at higher risk of hospitalization during a 3-year period. Further research may identify reasons that are amenable to policy interventions.