The association between stereoscopic vision and cognitive function on community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study

Background: Visual impairment is associated with cognitive dysfunction in older adults; however, a relationship between stereopsis and cognitive function remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between stereopsis and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted with data of 1,228 participants aged 74-88 years from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study. Cognitive function was assessed by the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K). Stereoscopic vision was measured using the Titmus Fly test and recorded in 3 categories according to the angle of stereopsis. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the association between stereopsis and cognitive function. Results: Total 565 men and 663 women were included. Stereopsis was associated with education, residence, and visual acuity (p<0.05). Participants with poor and moderate stereopsis were more likely to have cognitive dysfunction than participants with good stereopsis. Poor stereopsis was negatively associated with cognitive function scores in word list memory, word list recall, Trail Making Test-A errors, Trail Making Test-A response time and frontal assessment battery (p<0.05). Compared to good stereopsis group, moderate (odds ratio [OR]=1.60; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.08–2.36) and poor (OR=1.85; 95% CI=1.24–2.76)stereopsis groups had a higher risk of cognitive impairment even after controlling for several covariates. Conclusions: Poor stereopsis was associated with cognitive dysfunction and had increased odds for cognitive impairment. Our findings suggest a cross-sectional association between stereopsis and cognitive dysfunction in community-dwelling older adults.