In the United States, the Hispanic/Latino population is disproportionately at risk for eye diseases such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, or vision loss related to diabetes. However, the link between heart and eye health in Hispanics/Latinos remains understudied, said Dr. Charlotte Joslin, UIC professor of ophthalmology.
In a new study published in JAMA network openJoslin studied vision and cardiovascular health data for more than 3,000 Hispanic/Latino adults. The results demonstrate an association between cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as diabetes, and visual impairment.
“Typically, we tend to think of eye health as separate from the rest of the body. These results reveal the relationship between cardiovascular disease risk factors and visual impairment,” said Josselin, who is also in the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
In 2019, Joslyn received $9.7 million from the National Eye Institute to fund the Latino Study of Ojos, or SOL Eye study, which investigated eye diseases in the Hispanic/Latino community. Ultimately, the grant will total $10.6 million.
The six-year study looked at data from 3,294 adults aged 40 and older in Chicago and Miami, with an average age of about 60. All participants are part of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Latinx Study. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is a cohort of 16,000 participants that forms the basis of a broader study of Hispanic/Latino population and health.
Participants in Joslin’s study identified as Central American, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, or of other unspecified backgrounds. Each participant underwent a state-of-the-art eye exam.
First, we measure participants’ visual acuity as they enter the office, i.e., their daily visual acuity with or without their regular lenses. Next, determine whether each participant’s vision is optimal when using appropriate corrective glasses. ”
Dr. Charlotte Joslin, UIC Professor of Ophthalmology
The latter indicators are useful for identifying eye diseases, especially in patients who remain visually impaired despite wearing corrective glasses. Researchers also tracked when corrective lenses were outdated, inaccurate, or not present at all.
Participants were also assessed for diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking, and high blood pressure, all risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Joslin said participants with more risk factors (perhaps three or four, rather than one or zero) were more likely to have visual impairment. Previous studies have pointed to a link between a single disease such as diabetes and visual impairment, but no study has found the influence of multiple factors.
“If you’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes, that’s one of your risk factors. But many of these risk factors tend to work in combination. This study shows that people with three risk factors, for example diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, are at much higher risk of visual impairment than people with just one risk factor, such as diabetes,” Joslin said.
The results also revealed differences between participants from different backgrounds. For example, men who identified as Mexican were four to six times more likely to have visual impairments than other groups.
“We cannot treat everyone the same. Recognizing the heterogeneity of Hispanic/Latino backgrounds is critical to targeted treatment and care,” Joslin said.
Visual impairment was also associated with lower socioeconomic status, education level, income, preference for Spanish over English, and limited access to health care.
Joslin said the association between cardiovascular disease risk factors and eye health identified in this study is not causal and the context needs to be considered within the experiment. For example, this study focuses on the tendency of Hispanic/Latino adults and healthier populations to volunteer in scientific research.
Additional authors from UIC include Angie Wang, Dr. Lawrence J. Ulanski, Dr. Thasarat Vajaranant, Michael Stewart, Giselle Gutierrez Savoy, Dr. Mehmet Cem Mocan, and Dr. Martha L. Daviglus. The Hispanic Community Health Study/Latino Studies is a research collaboration supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health to the University of North Carolina, University of Miami, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, UIC, Northwestern University, and San Diego State University.
sauce:
University of Illinois at Chicago
Reference magazines:
Jocelyn, C.E. others. (2026). Visual impairment and cardiovascular risk factors in Hispanic and Latino adults. JAMA network open. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.17975. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2850230
