Visual impairment, cognitive frailty, and psychosocial condition in elderly people: A mediation model and latent profile analysis

Background Understanding the role of visual impairment and psychosocial health in cognitive frailty can provide new perspectives and ideas for promoting health in the elderly. The study aims to use latent profile analysis to delineate and classify the psychosocial condition of older adults with visual impairment and considering the mediation effects of psychosocial condition sub-group between visual impairment and cognitive frailty. Methods The cross-sectional study enrolled aging people with eye diseases from a hospital in Beijing. Participants’ general demographics, visual acuity, psychosocial condition, and cognitive frailty were collected through questionnaires. Latent profile analysis, mediation analysis, and logistical analysis were utilized to achieve the aims. Results Total 539 elderly people involved and 25.04% has cognitive frailty, the latent profile analysis identified three distinct groups: good (27.8%), middle (31.3%), and poor (40.9%). Elderly people with eye disease have high prevalence of cognitive frailty, they also have greater number of visual impaired. The latent profile analysis based psychosocial condition group significantly mediated the relationship between visual impairment and cognitive frailty. Conclusion The cognitive frailty of the elderly population is influenced by visual impairments and the existence of unsatisfied psychological condition will increase the prevalence. The targeted interventions should be multifaceted, addressing sensory, emotional, and cognitive health simultaneously. The focus and practice on elderly people’s visual health and psychosocial health could promote healthy aging and management of cognitive frailty.