title: Wait times and volume of cataract surgery in Ontario: 2000-2012.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review cataract surgery trends and wait times in Ontario.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of health records.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ontario Health Insurance Plan billing service claims between 2000 and 2012 were analyzed for the yearly number of cataract surgeries, alone and in combination with other procedures. The number of Ontarians with cataracts was estimated by applying composite prevalence curves derived from published population data. This was then used to calculate the yearly number of procedures per 1000 Ontarians with cataracts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Per 1000 people with cataract, the rate of cataract extraction increased 18.9% overall from 2000 to 2012, increasing by 38.3% from 2000 to 2006 and decreasing by 14.6% from 2006 to 2012. Mean wait times for cataract surgery decreased by 45.8% from 2006 to 2009 and increased 28.5% from 2009 to 2013. The proportion of surgeries that were same-day bilateral cataract extraction increased 2.21-fold from 2000 to 2012 but represented only 0.82% of total cataract surgeries in 2012. In 2000, 3% of cataract surgeries were combined with other procedures, and this decreased to 1.8% in 2012. Of these combinations, the rates of combined glaucoma filtration procedures decreased by 44.3%, anterior vitrectomy decreased by 32.5%, posterior vitrectomy increased by 58.3%, and corneal transplantation decreased by 10.7% during this time period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The yearly rate of cataract surgery has decreased since 2006, and wait times have increased from 2009. Same-day bilateral cataract extraction represented less than 1% of the total cataract surgical volume. Rates of cataract combined with posterior vitrectomy have increased (58%), whereas anterior vitrectomy at the time of cataract surgery decreased (33%).
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, Ont.
authors.forename: Andrei-Alexandru
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Szigiato
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Toronto, Ont.
authors.forename: Graham E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Trope
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Toronto, Ont; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, Toronto, Ont. Electronic address: y.buys@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Yvonne M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Buys
mesh_terms: D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014850:Waiting Lists