title: Cataract increases the risk of peripheral artery occlusive disease: A nationwide population-based cohort study with propensity score.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We conducted this study to evaluate the risk of peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) among patients with cataracts.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the data from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Study participants were classified into the cataract group and the non-cataract group between 2000 and 2010. All patients were observed from the index year until PAOD diagnosis, loss to follow up, or the end of 2011. Both study groups were 1:1 matching based upon a propensity score. We used a cox proportional hazards regression model to assess the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of PAOD for the cataract cohort compared with the non-cataract cohort.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for age, sex and comorbidities, the risk of PAOD was significantly higher in the cataract cohort [adjusted HR (aHR)=1.48, 95% CI=1.38-1.58] than the non-cataract cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that patients with cataracts had a 1.48-fold increased risk of developing PAOD compared to the non-cataract patients.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Syun
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Cheng-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Yang
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan. Electronic address: sheng.chang@mail.cmuh.org.tw.
authors.forename: Shih-Sheng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan; Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan. Electronic address: kuancheng.chang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kuan-Cheng
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002386:Cataract / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D057216:Propensity Score; D011897:Random Allocation; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Cataract; Cohort study; Incidence; Peripheral artery occlusive disease