Bilateral cataracts associated with worse vision-specific functioning

Issue: November 10, 2012

Patients with bilateral cataracts generally have more difficulty than patients with unilateral cataracts with vision-specific daily activities, according to a study, and those with posterior subcapsular cataracts or a combinations of cataracts experience the most problems.

The prospective, population-based, cross-sectional study examined 3,168 ethnic Indians age 40 years or older who lived in Singapore. Cataract severity was graded according to the Lens Opacity Classification System III, while the Visual Function Scale was used for vision-specific functioning scores.

The study found the presence of bilateral cataract was associated independently with poorer vision-specific functioning, even when undercorrected refractive error was taken into account.

Vision-specific functioning demonstrated a statistically significant decrease at different grades for different cataract types. For nuclear cataracts, a significant association was noted from grade 4 opalescence to grade 6 opalescence, while the association was noted only at grade 5 and grade 6 for nuclear color. For cortical cataracts, the significant association was from grade 3 to grade 5. For posterior subcapsular cataract, the association was significant across all grades.

“Our study emphasizes the need to incorporate vision-specific functioning into cataract assessment and to develop prevention strategies that target cataracts before they reach levels that impact activities of daily living,” the study authors wrote. “More studies comparing different types of cataracts with the different aspects of quality of life are needed.”

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Source:

Am J Ophthalmol. 2012:154(1);29-38.