Prevalence of visual impairment and utilization of rehabilitation services in the visually impaired elderly population of Quebec.

Data on the prevalence of reported visual impairment and on the utilization of rehabilitation services were collected on a sample consisting of 1777 community-residing people aged at least 65 years. A visual disability was considered to be present if the answer to at least one of the following two questions was positive: Do you have trouble reading ordinary newsprint with glasses (if normally worn)? Do you have trouble clearly seeing the face of someone 12 feet away with glasses (if normally worn)? Prevalence of a reported near disability was 7.6%, prevalence of a reported distance disability was 4.4%, and 3.5% of subjects reported both types of disability. In a subsample of the surveyed population, the positive predictive value was 21% and the negative predictive value was 100%, using moderate or worse visual impairment as the gold standard. Among those answering yes to both questions, 11.4% received services from a rehabilitation center and 10.0% from a nonprofit agency. The utilization rates (adjusted to apply only to those whose visual impairment was confirmed by visual examination) reached 20% for rehabilitation centers and 17.5% for nonprofit agencies. Low utilization of rehabilitation services raises questions concerning the role of general eye care practitioners, community-based health centers, and rehabilitation centers in the rehabilitative process of the visually impaired elderly.