Skip to main content
PMC home page
The British Journal of Ophthalmology logoLink to The British Journal of Ophthalmology
. 2000 Jan;84(1):9–12. doi: 10.1136/bjo.84.1.9

Factors associated with second eye cataract surgery

X Castells 1, J Alonso 1, C Ribo 1, D Nara 1, A Teixido 1, M Castilla 1
PMCID: PMC1723212  PMID: 10611090

Abstract

AIMS—To analyse the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics associated with second eye cataract surgery.
METHODS—An observational, longitudinal study of patients scheduled for first eye cataract surgery that did not involve a combined procedure was carried at two teaching hospitals and one non-teaching hospital in Barcelona, Spain. Patients were followed for 2 years after first eye cataract surgery to assess whether and when they had undergone second eye cataract surgery. Clinical characteristics, perceived health characteristics (perceived visual function and overall health status), and sociodemographic characteristics were compared between two patient groups—those with surgery in only one eye and those who had undergone surgery in both eyes by the end of the 2 year follow up period.
RESULTS—Of the 242 patients studied, 125 (51.7%) underwent second eye surgery during the 2 year observation period. Patients with visual acuity 6/18 (0.3) or worse in the second eye compared with those with visual acuity over 6/12 (0.5) and patients younger than 65 years compared with patients aged 65-74 were more likely to undergo second eye surgery (adjusted odds ratio 3.9 and 1.8, respectively). 52 (44.5%) patients in the only one eye surgery group had a visual acuity less than 6/18 (0.3) in the second eye.
CONCLUSIONS—Worse visual acuity in the second eye and younger ages are strongly associated with both eyes cataract surgery. There may be a potential increase of demand for this procedure in the near future since almost half of the patients with only one eye surgery presented a low visual acuity in the second eye.



Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (120.3 KB).

Figure 1  .

Figure 1  

Open in a new tab

Visual acuity (on a decimal scale) in the better and worse eye among patients who underwent cataract surgery in both eyes (n=125).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alonso J., Espallargues M., Andersen T. F., Cassard S. D., Dunn E., Bernth-Petersen P., Norregaard J. C., Black C., Steinberg E. P., Anderson G. F. International applicability of the VF-14. An index of visual function in patients with cataracts. Ophthalmology. 1997 May;104(5):799–807. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(97)30230-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Anderson G., Black C., Dunn E., Alonso J., Christian-Norregard J., Folmer-Anderson T., Bernth-Peterson P. Willingness to pay to shorten waiting time for cataract surgery. Health Aff (Millwood) 1997 Sep-Oct;16(5):181–190. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.16.5.181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Badía X., Alonso J. Validity and reproducibility of the Spanish Version of the Sickness Impact Profile. J Clin Epidemiol. 1996 Mar;49(3):359–365. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(95)00038-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bergner M., Bobbitt R. A., Carter W. B., Gilson B. S. The Sickness Impact Profile: development and final revision of a health status measure. Med Care. 1981 Aug;19(8):787–805. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198108000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Castells X., Alonso J., Ribó C., Casado A., Buil J. A., Badia M., Castilla M. Comparison of the results of first and second cataract eye surgery. Ophthalmology. 1999 Apr;106(4):676–682. doi: 10.1016/S0161-6420(99)90150-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Claridge K. G., Francis P. J., Bates A. K. Should second eye cataract surgery be rationed? Eye (Lond) 1995;9(Pt 6 SU):47–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Courtney P. The National Cataract Surgery Survey: I. Method and descriptive features. Eye (Lond) 1992;6(Pt 5):487–492. doi: 10.1038/eye.1992.103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Desai P., Reidy A., Minassian D. C., Vafidis G., Bolger J. Gains from cataract surgery: visual function and quality of life. Br J Ophthalmol. 1996 Oct;80(10):868–873. doi: 10.1136/bjo.80.10.868. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Elliott D. B., Patla A., Bullimore M. A. Improvements in clinical and functional vision and perceived visual disability after first and second eye cataract surgery. Br J Ophthalmol. 1997 Oct;81(10):889–895. doi: 10.1136/bjo.81.10.889. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hadorn D. C., Holmes A. C. The New Zealand priority criteria project. Part 1: Overview. BMJ. 1997 Jan 11;314(7074):131–134. doi: 10.1136/bmj.314.7074.131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hanning M., Lundström M. Assessment of the maximum waiting time guarantee for cataract surgery. The case of a Swedish policy. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 1998 Winter;14(1):180–193. doi: 10.1017/s026646230001062x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Javitt J. C., Brenner M. H., Curbow B., Legro M. W., Street D. A. Outcomes of cataract surgery. Improvement in visual acuity and subjective visual function after surgery in the first, second, and both eyes. Arch Ophthalmol. 1993 May;111(5):686–691. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1993.01090050120041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Javitt J. C., Steinberg E. P., Sharkey P., Schein O. D., Tielsch J. M., Diener M., Legro M., Sommer A. Cataract surgery in one eye or both. A billion dollar per year issue. Ophthalmology. 1995 Nov;102(11):1583–1593. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(95)30824-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Katz J., Schein O. D., Tielsch J. M., Lubomski L. H., Feldman M., Petty B. G., Bass E. Effects of randomizing second eyes in a trial to evaluate preoperative medical testing for cataract surgery. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 1997 Jun;4(2):101–105. doi: 10.3109/09286589709057102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Laidlaw A., Harrad R. Can second eye cataract extraction be justified? Eye (Lond) 1993;7(Pt 5):680–686. doi: 10.1038/eye.1993.155. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Laidlaw D. A., Harrad R. A., Hopper C. D., Whitaker A., Donovan J. L., Brookes S. T., Marsh G. W., Peters T. J., Sparrow J. M., Frankel S. J. Randomised trial of effectiveness of second eye cataract surgery. Lancet. 1998 Sep 19;352(9132):925–929. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(97)12536-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lumme P., Laatikainen L. T. Factors affecting the visual outcome after cataract surgery. Int Ophthalmol. 1993;17(6):313–319. doi: 10.1007/BF00915736. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Mönestam E., Wachtmeister L. Impact of cataract surgery on car driving: a population based study in Sweden. Br J Ophthalmol. 1997 Jan;81(1):16–22. doi: 10.1136/bjo.81.1.16. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rutkow I. M. Surgical operations in the United States. Then (1983) and now (1994). Arch Surg. 1997 Sep;132(9):983–990. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1997.01430330049007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schein O. D., Steinberg E. P., Cassard S. D., Tielsch J. M., Javitt J. C., Sommer A. Predictors of outcome in patients who underwent cataract surgery. Ophthalmology. 1995 May;102(5):817–823. doi: 10.1016/s0161-6420(95)30952-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Steinberg E. P., Tielsch J. M., Schein O. D., Javitt J. C., Sharkey P., Cassard S. D., Legro M. W., Diener-West M., Bass E. B., Damiano A. M. The VF-14. An index of functional impairment in patients with cataract. Arch Ophthalmol. 1994 May;112(5):630–638. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1994.01090170074026. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tielsch J. M., Steinberg E. P., Cassard S. D., Schein O. D., Javitt J. C., Legro M. W., Bass E. B., Sharkey P. Preoperative functional expectations and postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing first eye cataract surgery. Arch Ophthalmol. 1995 Oct;113(10):1312–1318. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1995.01100100100038. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of Ophthalmology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES