The association between exposure to radiation and the incidence of cataract

To examine the association between exposure to radiation from computed tomography (CT) studies and the incidence of cataract.

In a nested case-control study, all cataract cases and their matched controls were sampled from a retrospective cohort of Israeli residents who underwent CT scans or ultrasonic tests in Soroka Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel, between the years 1996 and 2014. The risk of cataract associated with head, neck or the rest of the body CT was assessed using Poisson survival analysis.

The nested matched sample included 3841 cataract cases and their age- and sex-matched controls (n = 228,743). CT radiation exposure was more frequent in the cataract group, with 9.7% head CT, 1.2% neck CT and 6.6% other CT, compared to 5%, 0.7% and 3.7% among person-years without cataract (p < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis, a similar increased risk of cataract associated with head (hazard ratio (HR): 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11; 1.38) and other CT (HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.10; 1.43) was found. No association with neck CT (HR: 1.07, 95% CI: 0.80; 1.43) was observed.

In our study population, a similar risk of cataract with head, neck or the rest of the body CT was detected.