Abstract
Purpose :
Older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are less likely to be offered cataract surgery than the general population, but these disparities have not been examined in the context of other neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Methods :
Using data from the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA), an ongoing longitudinal population-based survey of older adults in England, we examined the relationship between PD and cataract surgery among adults aged 50 and older. We used logistic regression to measure the association between PD and history of cataract surgery at baseline. In longitudinal analyses of subjects with no history of cataract surgery at the time of enrollment, we used semiparametric, discrete-time proportional hazards models to model the incidence of cataract surgery as a function of PD and other time-dependent covariates. Models were adjusted for demographic variables, self-reported comorbidities, and measures of daily activity limitation.
Results :
We included data from 6,394 eligible ELSA respondents, of whom 113 (1.77%) reported a diagnosis of PD. PD was positively associated with a history of cataract surgery at baseline (OR 1.60, 95% CI: 1.08-2.37), but this did not remain significant after adjusting for confounders (OR 1.17, 95% CI: 0.72-1.91). Among subjects with no history of cataract surgery at baseline, PD was associated with an increased incidence of cataract surgery (HR 1.51, 95% CI: 0.99-2.30), and this remained statistically significant after covariate adjustment (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.11-2.73).
Conclusions :
Unlike AD, people with PD are more likely to receive cataract surgery compared to the general population.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.