Association of nonrefractive visual impairment with risk of all-cause and specific-cause mortality in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 to 2008

Abstract Objective To investigate and describe the impact of nonrefractive visual impairment (NVI) and its severity on all-cause and cause-specific mortality, along with the latest estimations. Methods Cox proportional hazards regression models with multiple covariate adjustments and Fine-Gray compe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Siyu Gui, Xinchen Wang, Qianqian Wang, Lan Zhong, Jianchao Qiao, Yueyang Xu, Yiran Li, Zhihao Huang, Chengyang Hu, Fangbiao Tao, Xiaodong Sun, Heting Liu, Jie Gao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-03-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-22249-7
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Objective To investigate and describe the impact of nonrefractive visual impairment (NVI) and its severity on all-cause and cause-specific mortality, along with the latest estimations. Methods Cox proportional hazards regression models with multiple covariate adjustments and Fine-Gray competing risk regression models assessed the risk of all-cause and specific-cause mortality. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to achieve covariate balance. Results Among 7 961 participants (representing 171 383 125 non-institutionalized US individuals), baseline NVI was present in 350 participants (4.40%), with 313 (3.93%) having mild NVI and 37 (0.47%) having severe NVI. Both any NVI and Severe NVI were associated with increased all-cause and diabetes mellitus (DM)-related mortality. After PSM, the results remained consistent (for all-cause mortality: HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.05–1.70; for DM-related mortality: HR, 3.54; 95% CI, 1.15–10.97). Severity analysis demonstrated a significant trend between increasing NVI severity and elevated risks of all-cause and DM-specific mortality. Conclusion Our findings confirm that NVI and its severity are independent risk factors for all-cause and DM-specific mortality among the US population. This highlights the importance of regular visual acuity examinations, particularly for NVI screening, especially in individuals with diabetes.
ISSN:1471-2458