Abstract
Purpose :
Cataract surgery is known to reduce and prevent blindness particularly in developing countries. This cross-sectional, hospital-based study aimed to measure the impact of cataract surgery along with the improvement of vision, by assessing visual function in daily activities.
Methods :
Interviews were conducted with 42 patients who underwent cataract extraction during a short-term surgical mission trip held at the Vision Care Eye Center in Kampala, Uganda. The Visual Function Questionnaire (VFQ-25 v. 2000) developed by the National Eye Institute (NEI) was administered as a self-reported measure of visual function. The survey was conducted in the patient’s native language before surgery and during the one week postoperative period. Composite scores were calculated according to the VFQ-25 conversion manual for comparison. Visual acuity was collected prior to the operation and at three-day follow up visit.
Results :
The average age of respondents was 64.6 years; 31% of them were male and 69% female. Postoperatively, 38 of 42 (90.4%) demonstrated improvement in overall composite scores. A paired t-test yielded statistically significant improvements in general vision as well as mental health and social function subcategories (a=0.05). Ocular pain demonstrated no significant change after surgery. Proportion of patients with visual acuity less than or equal to 6/60 decreased from 51.2% to 25.0%, and patients with visual acuity better than or equal to 6/12 increased from 2.4% to 17.5%.
Conclusions :
The true impact of cataract surgery in the developing world may be best reflected not only by measurement of visual acuity, but with an assessment of the ability to perform everyday tasks. Questionnaires and surveys can capture the impact of blindness on a patient’s mental health and social function. Self-reported measures of visual function may thus provide a more complete picture of the impact of cataract surgery.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.