Abstract
Purpose :
To assess differences in cataract surgery outcomes by race in order to better understand delivery of surgical care to diverse patient populations.
Methods :
Massachusetts Eye and Ear surgical outcomes were assessed between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019. Patient's self-identified race/ethnicity were extracted from the medical record and collapsed into broader categories of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, declined/unavailable, and other for race. Cataract surgery outcomes were intraoperative complications(Descemet’s tear, posterior capsule tear, vitreous loss, anterior vitrectomy, dropped lens, and zonular dialysis), final refractive error within 1 diopter of target refraction, and loss to follow up. Logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratios between categories.
Results :
A total of 2,874 patients underwent cataract surgery and were included in the analysis (White=2,121, Asian=212, Black=202). Patients reporting their race as Asian had increased odds of an intra-operative complication (OR 3.29, CI 1.46-7.38, p-value <0.001) compared to self-reported White patients. Patients reporting their race as Black (OR 0.65, CI 0.46- 0.93) or other (OR 0.66, CI 0.46-0.94) were less likely than self-reported White patients to be within 1 diopter of target refraction. Patients reporting their race as Black (OR 1.91, CI 1.33-2.76) or other (OR 1.79, CI 1.22-2.60) had increased odds of loss to follow up.
Conclusions :
There were racial disparities in cataract surgery outcomes in intraoperative complications, target refraction, and loss to follow up. These findings warrant further investigation into these disparities and development of programs that improve equity of cataract care.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.