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Researchers link quality of life, cognitive impairment and depressive mental status in patients undergoing cataract surgery
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Cognitive impairment and depressive mental status may significantly improve in accordance with improvement in vision-related quality of life after cataract surgery, a prospective study found.
In order to examine the influence of cataract surgery on cognitive function and depression in elderly patients, Tetsuro Oshika, MD, and colleagues administered the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25), the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to 88 patients undergoing phacoemulsification and IOL implantation for bilateral cataract. These patients all had a best corrected visual acuity of 20/30 or worse in both eyes.
All tests were performed at baseline and at 2 months postop.
At postop, the average NEI VFQ-25 score had significantly improved from 66.6 at baseline to 82.2 (P < .001), and the average MMSE score had improved from 25.1 to 26.2 (P < .001).
The investigators identified a significant correlation between the surgery-induced change in BCVA and the change in NEI VFQ-25 score (P = .031).
They also found a significant link between the change in NEI VFQ-25 score, the change in MMSE score (P = .035) and the change in BDI score (P < .001)
In addition, surgery-induced change in MMSE score was significantly linked to the change in BDI score (P < .001), according to the study, published in the September issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.