Associations between vision impairment and multimorbidity among older Chinese adults: results from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have reported the relationship between vision impairment (VI) and multimorbidity in high-income countries, this relationship has not been reported in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to explore the relationship between VI with multimorbidity and chronic conditions among the elderly Chinese population. METHODS: The cross-sectional analysis was applied to data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018. A total of 8,108 participants ≥ 60 years old were included, and 15 chronic conditions were used in this study. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between VI with multimorbidity and chronic conditions. RESULTS: The prevalence of 15 chronic conditions and multimorbidity was higher among the elderly with VI than those without VI. After adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic confounders, 10 chronic conditions were associated with VI (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, positive association was observed between VI and one (odds ratio [OR]: 1.52; 95% confidence intervals [95%CI]: 1.16–2.00; P = 0.002), two (OR: 2.09; 95%CI: 1.61–2.71; P < 0.001), three (OR: 2.87; 95%CI: 2.22–3.72; P < 0.001), four (OR: 3.60; 95%CI: 2.77–4.69; P < 0.001), and five or more (OR: 5.53; 95%CI: 4.32–7.09; P < 0.001) chronic conditions, and the association increased as the number of chronic conditions (P for trend < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis stratified by gender, education, smoking status, and annual per capita household expenditure still found VI to be positively associated with multimorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: For patients older than 60 years, VI was independently associated with multimorbidity and various chronic conditions. This result has important implications for healthcare resource plans and clinical practice, for example, increased diabetes and kidney function screening for patients with VI. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-023-04393-0.