Prevalence and risk factors for age-related cataract in Sweden

Cataract is a major cause of visual impairment worldwide. There is a paucity of prevalence studies from Sweden. Therefore, we report the prevalence of cataract and its risk factors in a population-based study of older adults in Sweden.

The Tierp Glaucoma Survey was conducted in the municipality of Tierp, Sweden, including 760 subjects aged 65-74 years. The presence of cataract was determined based on retroillumination, with lens opacities evident on slit-lamp examination. To assess risk factors for cataract, odds ratios (ORs) were calculated, adjusted for age and gender.

A total of 234 individuals were found to have cataract, 12 of whom had undergone cataract surgery. The prevalence adjusted for nonparticipation was 31.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 29.4-33.6), 35.2% (95% CI 28.7-41.8) in females and 26.2% (95% CI 19.8-32.6) in males. Cataract was associated with age ≥70 years (OR 1.93; 95% CI 1.41-2.64), female gender (OR 1.54; 95% CI 1.12-2.11), and myopia (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.16-3.56), while pseudoexfoliation, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and ischaemic heart disease were not.

Nearly one-third of the sample were estimated to have lens opacities, or had undergone cataract surgery, making cataract a frequent disorder of older age. The study provided further evidence that increasing age, female gender, and myopia are associated with cataract.