Purpose: This study aimed to clarify how vision influences walking ability and provide fall prevention recommendations for older adults. Methods: Forty-four community-dwelling older adults (10 men and 34 women; mean age: 75.79 years) and 45 healthy younger adults (22 men and 23 women; mean age 20.32 years) without visual function or walking difficulties were included. The peripheral vision of both the younger and older adults was evaluated. The Timed Up and Go (TUG) and 10-m obstacle walking tests were conducted to assess the walking ability of the older participants. Results: The comparison of hand-eye coordination movements between the younger and older adults showed that the older adults had significantly longer execution times (p = 0.001). Age (r = 0.51, p < 0.01), TUG test (r = 0.46, p < 0.03), and 10-m obstacle walking speed test (r = 0.43, p < 0.04) had positive correlations with the execution times of hand-eye coordination movements for older adults. The multiple regression analysis using eye-hand coordination as the dependent variable demonstrated that age and 10-m obstacle walk time were significant explanatory variables. Conclusions: A significant association was indicated between hand-eye coordination movements and gait speed in older adults. In the future, combining a visual function assessment with training for enhancing peripheral vision may offer a novel and effective fall prevention approach for older adults.
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