Poor vision and risk of falls and fractures in older Australians: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Falls become more frequent with increasing age, and studies have shown that around a third of elderly people living in the community have one or more falls each year. The consequences of falls are significant and include injury, physical deterioration, fear of falling, institutionalisation, and in some instances death. It is well recognised that fall-related risk factors are a major contributor to hip fractures in the elderly. This article describes the Blue Mountains Eye Study, which systematically measured and graded visual function and eye disease in an older community-dwelling population. This study provides a good opportunity to examine the associations between poor vision, falls and hip fracture in an older population.