Miten näkövammaiset voivat? : sairauksien ja koettujen oireiden yleisyys

Abstract

Selvitimme puhelinhaastatteluin aikuisten näkövammaisten (n = 600) terveydentilaa keväällä 2001. Maassamme ei ole tehty aikaisemmin vastaavia laajamittaisia tutkimuksia näkövammaisten osalta. Tulokset osoittavat näkövammaisilla esiintyvän huomattavasti yleisemmin erilaisia sairauksia ja oireita kuin muulla väestöllä. Sekä sairaudet että oireet yleistyivät iän myötä, ja ne olivat tavallisempia naisilla kuin miehillä. Sairauksien esiintyvyys oli samanlainen riippumatta näkövamman vaikeusasteesta.

Information on the health status of visually impaired adults is limited in Finland as well as other countries. We studied this area by investigating the perceived health, symptoms and prevalence of self-reported diagnosed diseases of visually impaired adults in Finland. The data for the study (n = 600) was collected by means of telephone interviews. The results indicate that visually impaired adults have more diseases and symptoms than the general population. High blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease are more common among them. They have more chest pain during strenuous exercise, joint ache, backache, depression and insomnia. The older visually impaired also perceived their health as poorer than that of the general elderly population. The type of visual disability was not associated with the prevalence of diseases or symptoms. These varied according to marital status, sex and education. The results demonstrate that, in future, we must pay more attention to the needs of special groups like visually impaired when planning prevention and health promotion measures. There is also a strong need for further research in this area.