Age as a Factor in Cataract Surgery Outcome

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: To evaluate whether post-operative visual acuity after cataract surgery is affected by the age of the patient at the time of surgery. We hypothesize that younger patients have better visual outcomes after cataract extraction than older patients. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed to evaluate the visual acuity of 600 patients after cataract extraction. Patients with preexisting eye disease, diabetes mellitus and intra-operative complications such as vitreous loss and posterior capsule tears were omitted from the study in order to isolate age as the variable. The 600 patients in the study were separated into groups based on the decade their age fell into: 0-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80-89, 90-99 years respectively. Results: The number of subjects and the mean post-operative visual acuity by age group are as follows: Preliminary results show that as age increases, visual acuity post-operatively decreases. Conclusions: We conclude that advanced age may correlate with poorer visual outcomes for patients after cataract extraction. Nonetheless, elderly patients achieved excellent post-operative visual acuity which is likely attributed to the efficacy of the procedure. Further investigation must be done in order to determine statistical significance.  

Keywords: aging • cataract • visual acuity