The relationship between visual impairment and insomnia among people middle-aged and older in India

The correlation between insomnia and visual impairment has not been extensively studied. This study aims to investigate this relationship among individuals aged 45 and above in India. This investigation utilized data from the 2017-2018 Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). Visual impairment was self-reported, including presbyopia, cataracts, glaucoma, myopia, and hyperopia. Insomnia symptoms were determined by at least one of the following: difficulty in initiating sleep (DIS), difficulty in maintaining sleep (DMS), or early morning awakening (EMA) occurring three or more times per week. Analytical methods involved multivariate logistic regression, subgroup analyses, and interaction tests to interpret the data. In our cohort of 65,840 participants, 29.6% reporting insomnia symptoms demonstrated a higher risk for visual impairment. There was a significant association between visual impairment and increased risk of insomnia symptoms after adjustment for confounders. Furthermore, age in the relationship between insomnia and cataracts, sex in the relationship between insomnia and myopia, and age, sex, and smoking status in the relationship between insomnia and hyperopia, was found to have a significant interaction effect, respectively. Visual impairment was significantly associated with a higher incidence of insomnia among middle-aged and older adults in India. These findings underscore the importance of timely interventions to improve sleep quality and overall well-being in visually impaired populations.