Low Vision and Active Life Expectancy in Japanese Older Adults

Aaron Hagedorn, University of Southern California

This study investigates how the onset of vision impairment affects disability and active life expectancy in a nationally representative cohort of older adults in Japan over a 10 year time period. Five waves of data collected for the Nihon University Longitudinal Study of Aging were analyzed using an interpolation of Markov Chains method. The results indicate that among those who experienced poor vision over the survey period, total life expectancy at age 65 was nearly 5 years less than for those who reported normal vision . The largest differences were seen in disabled years, with approximately 7.3 years expected in disability for women age 65 with poor vision, compared to 5.7 years for women with good vision. This analysis suggests that poor vision may play a role in causing higher disability rates among older people in Japan.