Ethnicity has no role in cataract risk factors, study finds

Ethnicity plays no role in the likelihood of a patient developing age-related cataracts, according to a study comparing risk factors in Chinese patients with those found in people of other races.

Paul Foster and colleagues with the Singapore National Eye Centre examined 1,206 residents of the Tanjong Pagar district in Singapore who were between 40 and 79 years old to quantify risk factors for nuclear, cortical and posterior subcapsular cataracts. Cataract was graded using the Lens Opacity Classification System III. Main outcome measures were adjusted for odds ratio of risk factors for specific cataract types, any cataract and cataract surgery, examined in multiple logistic regression models.

Increasing age was associated with all cataract types, any cataract and cataract surgery, the authors wrote in the September issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology. Patient gender was not a factor in the any of the measures. After controlling for a variety of factors, diabetes was associated with cortical cataract, posterior subcapsular cataract, and any cataract and cataract surgery. A lower body mass index was associated with cortical cataract and any cataract. Current cigarette smoking was a risk factor for nuclear cataract, as was a non-professional occupation and lower education level. Lower household incomes were associated with posterior capsular cataract.

According to the researchers, these findings are similar to those for people of European, Indian and African descent.