Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To compare community-based data on the incidence of cataract extraction from 1995 through 2001 to data from previous time periods. Methods: The Rochester Epidemiology Project database captures virtually all care provided to residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota by accessing medical records from Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Group, and their affiliated hospitals. All patients with a procedure code for cataract extraction performed between 1995 and 2001 were included. County residence was verified for all subjects, and accuracy of demographic and clinical coding was checked in a stratified random sample of charts. Trends in the incidence rates, standardized to the age and sex distribution of the 1990 U.S. white population, were analyzed using Poisson regression. Data from the current time interval were compared to previously calculated incidence rates for 1980 through 1994. Results: 3859 procedures were identified. Annual incidence rates of surgery per 100,000 population were 557 in 1995 and 554 in 2001. The peak incidence per 100,000 was 632 in 1997, and the minimum was 506 in 1999. Using Poisson regression, there was no significant trend in the rates over the time period, 1995-2001. The peak incidence for the previously reported time period (1980-1994) was 499/100,000 in 1992. Over 22 years, the yearly surgical incidence was highest in patients 80 to 84 years old (4486/100,00) and the age-adjusted rate was higher in females (477/100,000) than males (391/100,000). Conclusions: Previous data indicated a steadily increasing trend in the incidence of cataract surgeries in Olmsted County from 1980 through 1992. However, incidence rates from 1995-2001 show no trend for significant change. As has been recognized previously, the incidence rate is higher in females than in males and the difference increases with increasing age.