Systemic and ocular comorbidity of cataract surgical patients in a western Sydney public hospital.
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to assess the frequency of major systemic and ocular comorbidities among cataract surgical patients attending a large general public hospital.


METHODS
Consecutive patients aged 60+ years who had undergone cataract surgery at Westmead Hospital from July 2001 to December 2002 were included. Preoperative information was obtained from patient medical records.


RESULTS
A total of 773 cataract surgical procedures were performed during the 18-month period, including 668 (86.4%) aged 60+ years. Complete data were available for 653 eyes (97.8%); 62.2% were women. The mean age at surgery was 74.6 (+/- 7.2) years. Frequent systemic comorbidities included: angina (20.2%), previous myocardial infarct (15.0%), diabetes (27.5%) and hypertension (56.3%); 12.5% were current smokers. Major preoperative ocular comorbidities included age-related maculopathy (12.6%), diabetic retinopathy (9.0%) and glaucoma (10.6%). Preoperatively, 21.7% of this group had severe visual impairment (visual acuity [VA] <6/60), 30.6% had moderate impairment (VA <6/24 ->or=6/60) and 30.6% had mild impairment (VA <6/12 ->or=6/24); 28.5% had presenting VA >or=6/12.


CONCLUSIONS
The data indicate a high frequency of comorbid systemic and ocular diseases among cataract surgical patients.
University of Sydney, Department of Ophthalmology, Centre for Vision Research, Westmead Millennium Institute, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.
Thuan Quoc
TQ
Pham
Jie Jin
JJ
Wang
Elena
E
Rochtchina
Anthony
A
Maloof
Paul
P
Mitchell
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D015897:Comorbidity; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity