Preserving Vision in Aging: The Essential Roles of Regular Eye Exams

Maintaining vision in aging adults is a continuous healthcare challenge, with the importance of proactive care growing as our population ages. In practice, many professional groups advise comprehensive eye examinations annually or every 1–2 years for older adults, underscoring the need for regular eye exams and nutritional strategies to preserve sight.

The early detection potential for glaucoma and AMD during routine eye checks is vital. Early detection allows timely treatments—such as IOP‑lowering therapy for glaucoma or anti‑VEGF injections for neovascular AMD—that can slow progression or preserve vision, depending on disease stage. For patients experiencing subtle decline in vision, the early detection through routine eye exams often pre-empts more severe outcomes.

Furthermore, advances in teleophthalmology now allow for remote screenings, offering an emerging opportunity to improve early disease detection. As shown in a teleophthalmology pilot study, technology can help flag concerns for conditions like glaucoma and AMD, though results from broader reviews note variable sensitivity and specificity and emphasize implementation considerations.

Returning to the importance of routine care, these remote options are best used to complement, not replace, comprehensive in‑person examinations—especially for patients with risk factors noted during earlier checks.

Key Takeaways:

• For older adults, schedule comprehensive eye examinations annually or every 1–2 years to enable timely detection and treatment.
• Use teleophthalmology as a complementary tool for access and triage, recognizing variable accuracy and the need for in‑person follow‑up.