Visual functioning and quality of life among the older people in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the association of visual functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among the older community in Hong Kong. DESIGN: This study used the baseline examination of a cohort study MrOs and MsOs (a large study for osteoporosis in men and women). SETTING: This study was set in the Hong Kong community. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 4000 ambulatory community-dwelling Chinese men and women aged 65 years or above participated in this study. MEASUREMENTS: Health-related quality of life was assessed by Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12 (SF-12), with physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores. Demographics, medical history, mental status, and quality of life were obtained from face-to-face interviews, using standard structured questionnaire. Visual functions (i.e., binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereopsis) were assessed by different visual tests after refraction corrections. Different visual functions were tested simultaneously in multiple ordinal logistic regression models. RESULTS: Better binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereopsis were associated with higher PCS. Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity was associated with PCS after adjustment of different visual functions and sex, age, education level, cognitive status, and history of diabetes in multivariate analysis, (OR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.54 0.98) for low vision (≤6/24) compared with ≥6/9 in visual acuity and (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.09 1.64) for contrast sensitivity row b 5-8 (best) compared with 0-1 (worst). MCS was only associated with visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, but no association was found after adjustment. CONCLUSION: Apparent association was found between visual functions and HRQOL among older community in Hong Kong. In addition to visual acuity, contrast sensitivity is also important, so eye care should also cover.

Characteristics of age-related changes in bone compared between male and female reference Chinese populations in Hong Kong: a pQCT study.

There have been few comprehensive studies on the age-related changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and bone structure in Chinese people. Using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), we assessed volumetric BMD of both trabecular and cortical bone and their geometry at both radius and tibia in 620 Chinese men and 638 women, aged 20­98 years, in Hong Kong. Cortical BMD did not start declining until after the age of 50 years in women and the age of 60 years in men. In contrast, trabecular BMD declined with age starting from adulthood in both sexes, and the rates of decline accelerated after the age of 50 years only in women. The integral and trabecular bone area expanded with age in older men and women, primarily at the tibia. Cortical bone area decreased significantly in older women, particularly at the tibia, while it decreased only slightly with aging in men. The moment of inertia decreased with age at the radius in older men and women. At the tibia, age-related decline accelerated in older women, but not in older men. It was concluded that trabecularization of bone in response to declining BMD and mechanical loading may be maladaptive by reducing cortical bone area, if periosteal apposition cannot keep pace with it.