J Korean Med Sci.  2016 Jun;31(6):963-971. 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.6.963.

Cataract and Cataract Surgery: Nationwide Prevalence and Clinical Determinants

• Park SJ
• Lee JH
• Kang SW
• Hyon JY
• Park KH

• KMID: 2373707
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.6.963

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and clinical determinants of cataract and cataract surgery in Korean population. The 2008-2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was analyzed, which included 20,419 participants aged ≥ 40 years. The survey is a multistage, probability-cluster survey, which can produce nationally representative estimates. Prevalence of cataract and cataract surgery was estimated. Clinical determinants for those were investigated using logistic regression analyses (LRAs). The prevalence of cataract was 42.28% (95% confidence interval [CI], 40.67-43.89); 40.82% (95% CI, 38.97-42.66) for men and 43.62% (95% CI, 41.91-45.33) for women (P = 0.606). The prevalence of cataract surgery was 7.75% (95% CI, 7.30-8.20); 6.38% (95% CI, 5.80-6.96) for men and 9.01% (95% CI, 8.41-9.61) for women (P < 0.001). Cataract was associated with older age (P < 0.001), men (P = 0.032), lower household income (P = 0.031), lower education (P < 0.001), hypertension (P < 0.001), and diabetes mellitus (DM) (P < 0.001). Cataract surgery was consistently associated with older age, occupation, DM, asthma, and anemia in two LRAs, which compared participants with cataract surgery to those without cataract surgery and those having a cataract but without any cataract surgery, respectively. Hypertension, arthritis, and dyslipidemia were associated with cataract surgery at least in one of these LRAs. These results suggest that there are 9.4 million individuals with cataract and 1.7 million individuals with cataract surgery in Korea. Further studies are warranted to reveal the causality and its possible mechanism of developing/exacerbating cataract in novel determinants (i.e., anemia, asthma, and arthritic conditions) as well as well-known determinants.

Keyword

Cataract; Cataract Surgery; Prevalence; Determinants; Risk Factors

MeSH Terms

Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Cataract/complications/*epidemiology
Cataract Extraction
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/complications/epidemiology
Female
Humans
Hypertension/complications/epidemiology
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Nutrition Surveys
Prevalence
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Risk Factors
Socioeconomic Factors

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Age- and sex-specific weighted prevalences of cataracts and cataract surgery in Korea during the 5-year study period (2008–2012).

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