The morphological type of senile cataract and its effect on uptake of cataract surgery

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to know how the type of cataract and demographics affect the timing of cataract surgery in rural Northern Indian patients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study enrolled cataract patients aged ≥40 years with best-corrected visual acuity of ≤6/18 in the affected eye. A pre-validated, structured questionnaire was used to collect demographic information. A comprehensive ocular examination was done to collect clinical information. Descriptive statistics were carried out and unpaired t -test, Mann–Whitney test or Welch t -test were used to compare groups. An association between the type of cataract and independent variables was done using the Chi-square test of independence and logistic regression. Results: A total of 441 eligible patients, 255 (58%) men and 186 (42%) women were enrolled. Women were more likely than men to have cataracts in pre-senile age than in senile age, χ 2 (1, n = 395) = 4.5, P = 0.03. The mean (±standard deviation) age of cataract surgery in patients with cataracts other than significant nuclear sclerosis (NS) was 60.4 years compared to the 64.5 years for the NS group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.000l). Conclusion: The morphological type of cataract affects the timing of uptake of surgery.