[Increasing waiting lists for cataract surgery in the county of Vejle]

For several years the waiting list for cataract surgery has increased in the county of Vejle, Denmark. To reveal any change of indications for cataract surgery accounting for this increase, we analyzed referral notes and files in two samples of 86 and 72 patients examined preoperatively in 1991 and 1993. No significant difference was found between the groups regarding age, visual acuity, other eye diseases than cataract, diabetes, treatment with steroids, anisometropia or occupational disability due to poor vision. Thus no signs of changed indications for cataract surgery were found comparing the two samples. Median waiting time from referral to surgery had increased highly significantly from 1991 to 1993 (p << 0.01). The number of cataract operations per year was unchanged in the period. We propose that the increasing waiting time could be attributed to more people wanting cataract surgery, reflecting growing demands for good visual functioning and better expectations of the outcome after surgery.