Laura N. Gitlin

Gait Implications of Visual Field Damage from Glaucoma.

Glaucoma severity was associated with several gait parameters predictive of higher fall risk in prior studies, particularly measures of stride-to-stride variability.

Predictors of Falls per Step and Falls per Year At and Away From Home in Glaucoma.

In this glaucoma population, most falls occurred at home, and the risk of any step resulting in a fall was higher at home.

Locations, Circumstances, and Outcomes of Falls in Patients With Glaucoma.

Glaucoma patients fall mostly in/around the home and demonstrate similar fall circumstances across the spectrum of disease severity, suggesting that current fall prevention interventions, particularly those emphasizing home modification, may be an adequate starting point…

Gait and Balance as Predictors and/or Mediators of Falls in Glaucoma.

Although balance and gait measures are associated with fall rates, they do not explain why persons with greater visual field damage fall more frequently, suggesting the importance of other potential factors such as hazard perception.

Quantifying Fall-Related Hazards in the Homes of Persons with Glaucoma.

Multiple home fall hazards were identified in the study population, and hazard numbers were not lower for persons with worse VF damage, suggesting that individuals with more advanced glaucoma do not adapt their homes for safety.

Patterns of Daily Physical Activity across the Spectrum of Visual Field Damage in Glaucoma Patients.

At worse levels of VF damage, glaucoma patients demonstrate shorter, more fragmented bouts of physical activity throughout the day and lower activity levels during typical waking hours, reflecting low physiologic functioning.

Association Between Visual Field Damage and Gait Dysfunction in Patients With Glaucoma.

At worse levels of baseline VF damage, patients with glaucoma in this study demonstrated an exacerbated decline in walking speeds (ie, stride velocity and cadence), indicating that mobility speeds decrease faster over time in older…

The Association of Glaucomatous Visual Field Loss and Balance.

Balance was worse in glaucoma patients with greater VF damage under foam surface testing (designed to inhibit proprioceptive contributions to balance) as well as feet-together firm-surface conditions when somatosensory inputs were available.

Environmental Features Contributing to Falls in Persons With Vision Impairment: The Role of Home Lighting and Home Hazards.

Fewer home falls were found with better lighting, but not with fewer home hazards. Lighting improvements at home may reduce fall rates in older adults.

Importance and Severity Dependence of Physical Activity by GPS-Tracked Location in Glaucoma Patients.

Restriction of physical activity in more patients with severe glaucoma results mostly from activity restriction outside the home environment.

The Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Physical Activity in Older Adults With Visual Impairment.

Select NFs (poverty share and crime rate) may disproportionately affect physical activity in patients with severe VF loss.

Visual Impairment and Real-World Home Physical Activity With Home Environment in an Older Population.

In this study, results demonstrated that home environment features, particularly lighting, may influence home activity metrics in older adults with visual impairment.

Relationship between home environment features and difficulty in instrumental activities of daily living and other patient-reported measures in persons with glaucoma.

Better home lighting was associated with less frequent difficulty with IADLs (but not FoF or GQL) in a cohort enriched for glaucoma; no associations were noted with any measure for home hazards.