title: [Early clinical evaluation of contrast visual acuity in patients with age- related cataract].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the changes of the contrast visual acuity (CVA) in early agerelated cataract patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-controlled study. One hundred and four eyes of 52 age-related cataract patients, with the best corrected visual acuity equal to or more than 0.8, equivalent spherical diopters of -3.00 to 3.00 DS and astigmatic diopters of -1.50 to 1.50 DC, were selected as the cataract group. Another 104 eyes of 52 normal adults, with the best corrected visual acuity equal to or more than 0.8, equivalent spherical diopters of -3.00 to 3.00 DS and astigmatic diopters of -1.50 to 1.50 DC, were selected as the control group. They were paired according to sex, the similar age and the best corrected visual acuity. After eye and refractive examinations, all examinees received the CVA measurements in different contrast levels between the optotypes and background (100%, 25%, 10% and 5%) in the dark room by the multifunction visual acuity chart. SPSS 18.0 software package was used for paired t test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the cataract group, CVA decreased more significantly than the control group. OD: 0.99 ± 0.26, 0.59 ± 0.23, 0.38 ± 0.19, 0.23 ± 0.12. OS: 0.98 ± 0.28, 0.59 ± 0.18, 0.38 ± 0.14, 0.23 ± 0.10. OU: 1.15 ± 0.26, 0.73 ± 0.20, 0.49 ± 0.16, 0.30 ± 0.10 (OD: t = -6.49, -7.25, -7.57, -5.45. OS: t = -5.78, -7.51, -6.41, -7.16. OU: t = -4.33, -7.60, -7.53, -9.75, P < 0.01). There was a significant decrease in different degrees of cortical cataract (F100% = 50.18, P = 0.000. F25% = 23.08, P = 0.000. F10% = 20.17, P = 0.000. F5% = 13.42, P = 0.000). There was a significant decrease in different degrees of cortical cataract compared with the control group (C1: t = -6.49, -7.25, -7.57, -5.45, P < 0.05. C2: t = -5.78, -7.51, -6.41, -7.16, P < 0.01. C3: t = -4.33, -7.60, -7.53, -9.75, P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CVA was more reliable than the best corrected visual acuity in evaluating vision function in patients with early age-related cataract.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China; Email: zhaojialiang@medmail.com.cn.
authors: Jialiang
authors: J
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001251:Astigmatism / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002386:Cataract / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012984:Software; D014792:Visual Acuity