Citation

McGwin G, Gewant HD, Modjarrad K, Hall TA, Owsley C. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2006; 54(7): 1089-1094.

Affiliation

Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1532-5415.2006.00770.x

PMID

16866680

Abstract

Aim:To determine the effect of cataract surgery on the occurrence of falls and mobility and balance problems in older adults with cataract. Longitudinal follow-up study. Clinical Research Unit, University of Alabama at Birmingham. Persons aged 55 and older with a cataract were recruited from 12 eye clinics in Alabama from October 1994 through March 1996. Participants were classified into two groups: those who had cataract surgery (surgery group, n=122) and those who had not (no-surgery group, n=92). At baseline and 1-year follow-up visits, information on the occurrence of falls and mobility and balance problems was collected based on subjects' recall of events during the prior 12 months. After adjusting for demographic, behavioral, medical, and visual characteristics, there was no difference between the two groups in the likelihood of falling (risk ratio (RR)=0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.64-1.42) or in having mobility (RR=0.81, 95% CI=0.55-1.18) or balance difficulties (RR=0.71, 95% CI=0.37-1.39). Cataract surgery had no association with the occurrence of falls or mobility or balance problems in independently living older adults with a cataract.

Language: en