Prevalence and Associated Factors of Cataract, Cataract Surgery and Postoperative Outcome in an Old Population in Russia: The Ural Very Old Study

Purpose

To assess prevalence of cataract and cataract surgery in a very old population in Russia.

Design

Population-based study.

Participants

The Ural Very Old Study included 1526 (81.1%) participants of 1882 eligible individuals aged >85 years.

Methods

Series of ophthalmological examinations.

Main Outcome Measures

Prevalence of cataract and cataract surgery.

Results

The study included 1163 (76.3%) individuals with lens information. Cataract surgery had been performed in 469 right eyes (41.0%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 38.1–43.9) (92.1% with posterior chamber intraocular lens [IOL]; 4.7% with multifocal IOL) and 479 left eyes (41.6%; 95% CI: 38.7–44.4) (92.7% with posterior chamber IOL; 4.2% with multifocal IOL). Cataract surgery had been performed in at least one eye for 610 (52.5%) individuals. Higher prevalence of previous cataract surgery correlated (multivariable analysis) with lower IOP (OR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.88–0.95), glaucomatous optic nerve damage stage (OR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.05–1.36), and better visual acuity (OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.51–0.89). Postoperative best corrected visual acuity was reduced to moderate-to-severe vision impairment (MSVI) in 202 eyes (44.6%; 95% CI: 40.0–49.2) and to blindness in 53 eyes (11.7%; 95% CI: 8.7–14.7). Causes of postoperative MSVI were age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (34.2%), glaucoma (13.9%), and secondary cataract (5.4%). Causes for blindness were AMD (24.5%), glaucoma (18.9%), corneal opacifications (15.8%) and myopic macular degeneration (11.3%). Yttrium Aluminum Garnet-laser capsulotomy had been performed in 6 (1.3%) of 469 right eyes and 12 (2.5%) of 479 left eyes. Prevalence of nuclear cataract and cortical cataract was 604/671 (90.0% in phakic eyes; 51.9% in the whole study population) and 97.9% eyes (48.4% in total study population). Cataract caused bilateral MSVI and blindness in 28.2% (95% CI: 25.6–30) and 2.9% (95% CI: 1.9–3.9), respectively, of all study participants.

Conclusions

Despite a relatively high prevalence of cataract surgery, this multiethnic cohort >85 years of aged from Russia showed a high prevalence of cataract-related MSVI and blindness. Main causes for postoperative MSVI (prevalence: 44.6%) and blindness (prevalence: 11.7%) were AMD, glaucoma, corneal opacifications, and myopic macular degeneration. Almost all individuals aged 85+ years need cataract surgery, despite limited chance of postoperative good vision.

Financial Disclosure(s)

The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.