Cataract surgery linked to increased survival

This study found that cataract surgery appears to be associated with increased survival. This result contrasts with previous studies that have correlated cataract surgery with a higher incidence of mortality in the age-adjusted population.

The current study's researchers compared survival data through the end of 2006 of 933 consecutive patients who underwent cataract surgery between December 2000 and February 2001 at one United Kingdom hospital with national and regional all-causes death rates from 2000 through 2006. The cataract surgery patients were a median age of 77.8; 298 died during the study period.

The mortality rate was significantly lower among the cataract surgery patients compared with the national and regional data after adjusting for age and sex. In explanation of these results, which differ from older studies, the authors noted that cataract surgery technology and techniques have changed dramatically over the past 15 to 20 years. With cataract procedures now performed on more patients and among those with a greater age range and better preoperative vision, the cataract surgery population may now more closely mirror the general population, they said.