Catquest-9SF questionnaire shows greater visual functioning in bilateral cataract populations: A prospective study

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Health Outcomes Research
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Cataract surgery is a common procedure to restore vision.
• Assessing patient-reported visual functioning is crucial for evaluating surgical outcomes.
• The Catquest-9SF questionnaire is a tool for measuring visual functioning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt and validate the Catquest-9SF questionnaire for assessing visual function outcomes after unilateral or bilateral cataract surgery.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Catquest-9SF in an Australian population undergoing cataract surgery.

Main Methods:

• The Catquest-9SF questionnaire was administered to 61 patients before and 3 months after cataract surgery.
• Data were analyzed using Rasch modeling (WINSTEPS) and statistical tests (R software).
• Key psychometric properties including precision, reliability, and dimensionality were assessed.

Main Results:

• The Catquest-9SF demonstrated excellent psychometric properties (person separation index = 2.58, reliability = 0.87).
• A significant improvement (16.3%) in visual function was observed across all patients post-surgery (P < .05).
• Bilateral cataract surgery showed significantly greater visual function improvement (22.3%) compared to unilateral surgery (10.1%) (P < .05).

Conclusions:

• The Catquest-9SF is a valid and reliable measure for visual functioning in Australian patients undergoing cataract surgery.
• Cataract surgery significantly improves patient visual function.
• Bilateral cataract surgery leads to superior visual function outcomes compared to unilateral surgery.