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Cataracts and Balance

Measurement of balance in adults 45 to 85 years old showed cataract and reduced visual acuity were associated with poorer balance.

Measurement of balance in adults 45 to 85 years old showed cataract and reduced visual acuity were associated with poorer balance.

Age related macular degeneration and glaucoma in contrast were not associated with reduced balance.

Balance was tested by whether the patient could stand on one leg for at least 60 seconds. For each line of worse visual acuity there was 15% higher odds of failing the balance test.

This research supports previous research elsewhere showing that there is an increased risk of falls associated with cataracts, and that this risk decreases following cataract surgery in one eye, and again following cataract surgery in the fellow eye if it has cataracts also.

Vision, Eye Disease and the Onset of Balance Problems: The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Ageing : Vision and Balance problems

Am J OPhthalmol 2021 Jun 19
Z Kahiel, A Grant, MJ Aubin et al