Should We Perform Early Cataract Surgery? A Patient Reported Outcome Study

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Vision Science

Background:

• Current guidelines suggest visual acuity (VA) alone should not restrict cataract surgery access.
• However, a 6/12 VA cut-off is sometimes used, potentially delaying surgery for some patients.
• This study investigates the benefits of earlier surgery in patients with better pre-operative vision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the benefits of cataract surgery for patients with pre-operative visual acuity (VA) of 6/9 or better.
• To assess if these benefits change over time (4 months vs. 12 months post-surgery).
• To compare the visual function benefits between first and second eye cataract surgery.

Main Methods:

• Fifty adult patients with a minimum VA of 6/9 in the worse eye and no ocular comorbidities were enrolled.
• Visual function was assessed using the Visual Function Index (VF-14) and Impact of Visual Impairment (IVI) questionnaires.
• Assessments were conducted pre-operatively, and at 4 and 12 months post-operatively.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in visual function were observed at 4 months post-surgery (VF-14 mean change: 16.43, IVI median change: 6.5).
• These improvements remained stable and were not significantly different at 12 months post-surgery.
• No significant difference in visual function improvement was found between first and second eye surgeries.

Conclusions:

• Cataract surgery provides clinically significant visual function benefits for patients with pre-operative VA of 6/9 or better.
• These benefits are sustained one year post-surgery and are comparable for both first and second eye procedures.
• Patient-reported visual function assessments may provide a more accurate measure of surgical benefit than VA alone, supporting earlier intervention.