Visual Outcome of Cataract Surgeries Performed in A Rural Eye Care Facility in the Philippines: A One-Year Retrospective Study

Objective: This study aimed to determine the demography, incidence of surgical complications, and visual outcomes of cataract surgeries at a rural eye care facility in Tarlac, Philippines. Methods: This is a 1-year retrospective case study of the visual outcomes of cataract surgeries in a rural eye care facility in Tarlac, Philippines. Comparative statistics such as t -test for means and Z-test for proportions were used to determine differences between bi-variate groups. Results: During the 1-year period, 340 eyes underwent cataract surgery. Fifty-nine patients were < 60 years of age, whereas 235 patients were > 60 years old. There were 142 males and 152 females. Preoperative visual acuity (VA) appears to be skewed towards poor vision (< 20/200). Two hundred sixteen eyes had VA < 20/200, while the number of eyes with fair (< 20/60 - 20/200) and good (20/20 - 20/60) vision were 95 and 29, respectively. Preoperative and postoperative VA were categorized as good, fair and poor based on the definition stated by the WHO. There are significant differences (p < 0.0001) between the preoperative and postoperative VA in all categories. The number of eyes with good VA increased from 29 to 320, whereas the frequency of fair and poor VA decreased from 95 and 216 to 8 and 12, respectively. Conclusion: The eye care facility achieved the WHO recommendation for adequate visual outcomes of > 80% of good visual outcome. Contrary to other studies, old age does not necessarily equate to poor outcomes in this study. However, pre-existing ocular illnesses and surgical complications do contribute to poor outcomes. It is still possible to gain a good outcome if the pre-existing ocular comorbidity is still on the early stages. In cases of posterior capsular rupture, good outcomes are also achievable if the surgeon is skilled enough to handle such situations. Keywords: cataract, outcomes, complications, rural, Philippines