Journal Article

Association of biomass fuel use with the risk of vision impairment among Chinese older adults: a cohort study

Meng, Xin, Su, Cheng, Ke, Pan, Feng, Jing, Xu, Minzhi, Di, Hongkun, Gan, Yong, Lu, Zuxun, Tian, Qingfeng, Zhou, Ying

2023

Overview

Cooking with biomass fuels has been reported to have adverse effects on health. This study aims to explore the association between cooking with biomass fuels and vision impairment among Chinese older adults aged 65 years and above. This cohort study drew on data from the 2011/2012 wave and the 2014 follow-up wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Participants’ visual function was examined through a vision screening test. Exposure to indoor biomass fuels was self-reported. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to explore the relationship between biomass fuel use and vision impairment. Additionally, we compared the risk of vision impairment between participants who switched cooking fuel types and those who did not. Subgroup and interaction analyses were conducted to explore the potential effect modifiers. A total of 4711 participants were included in this study. During the follow-up, 1053 (22.35%) participants developed vision impairment. Cooking with biomass fuels increased the risk of vision impairment by 40% (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–1.61). Participants who switched from clean fuels to biomass fuels had a greater risk of vision impairment than persistent clean fuel users (HR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.03–2.00). Greater effect estimates were found in participants who lived in eastern and central China and urban residents. Cooking with biomass fuels resulted in a greater risk of vision impairment among Chinese older adults. This risk also existed in those who changed their cooking fuels from clean fuels to biomass fuels. Further studies with an objective assessment of biomass fuel combustion are required to confirm our findings.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adults / Aged / Air Pollution, Indoor - adverse effects / Aquatic Pollution / Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution / biofuels / Biomass / Biomass burning / Biomass energy / China / China - epidemiology / Clean fuels / Cohort analysis / Cohort Studies / confidence interval / Cooking / Cooking - methods / Earth and Environmental Science / East Asian People / Ecotoxicology / Environment / Environmental Chemistry / Environmental Health / Environmental science / Fuel combustion / Fuels / hazard ratio / Humans / Impairment / longevity / Medical screening / Older people / Plant Structures - adverse effects / Research Article / Risk / Risk Factors / Statistical models / Subgroups / Vision / vision disorders / Vision Disorders - diagnosis / Vision Disorders - etiology / Visual impairment / Visual perception / Waste Water Technology / Water Management / Water Pollution Control