Patients perceive visual rehabilitation to persist up to 10 years after cataract surgery

Issue: April 25, 2013

Cataract surgery afforded long-term visual rehabilitation in most patients at 10 years, according to a study using clinical and subjective outcome measures.

“Function and quality of life are the outcomes of treatment that are most critical and applicable to the patient,” the study authors said.

The prospective, population-based study included 355 patients who underwent cataract surgery in 1997 and 1998; 289 patients underwent eye examinations and responded to a questionnaire tracking visual acuity and visual function. Mean patient age at baseline was 67.9 years.

Patients underwent routine eye examination and self-reported visual status on the visual function questionnaire (VF-14) preoperatively and at 4 months, 5 years and 10 years after surgery. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) charts were used to gauge visual acuity.

Study results showed that median Snellen best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) diminished from 20/22 preoperatively to 20/23 at 10 years; the decrease in VA was statistically significant (P = .001).

BCVA in the operated eye increased in 257 patients (89%), decreased in 26 patients (9%) and was unchanged in 2% of patients at 10 years.

Self-reported visual function remained stable in roughly half of the patients, decreased by 10 points or less in 77% of patients and diminished by more than 30 points in 12% of patients, the authors said.

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Source:

Acta Ophthalmol. 2012;90(7):651-656.