Visual symptoms are significantly more common in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), which reduce quality of life. But they are under-recognized and under-treated, suggests a new study published in the European Journal of Neurology.

Ocular surface dryness, Impaired contrast sensitivity or color discrimination, convergence insufficiency resulting in blurry or double vision with near viewing are some of the visual problems that are common in patients with PD.

The study is the largest to date of cross-sectional analysis of visual symptoms in these patients and involved 115, 240 older adults (≥50 years), including 1482 with PD in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a multinational population-based health survey of adults living in one of 27 European countries and Israel.

• PD was associated with increased odds of impaired overall [odds ratio (OR) 2.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.91–3.72], distance (OR 2.55, 95% CI 2.04–3.19) and near (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.69–2.55) eyesight.
• Individuals with PD were also less likely to report having an eye examination within the previous 2 years.

The study has shown a strong association between PD and self-reported visual dysfunction. But, according to the researchers, since the vision-related questions in SHARE are not specific for PD, it was not possible to determine whether self-reported visual dysfunction was due to PD-related pathophysiology or other unrelated factors such as refractive error or cataracts. Nevertheless, it is a significant finding as vision has an impact on overall quality of life of the patient and is associated with other health problems such as falls, fractures, depression and anxiety.

Hence, patients with PD should be asked about visual symptoms and they should be regularly screened for visual impairment and other visual problems…. (Source: European Journal of Neurology, online Sept. 30, 2019)

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Past National President IMA