Cataract Surgery Shown to Decrease Rate of Driving Accidents in Elderly

August 23, 2002, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

Recent research has shown that the risk of motor vehicle crash is increased in those with cataract, a condition that impairs vision and is present in half of adults aged 65 years or older. According to the World Health Organization, cataracts are the leading cause of blindness around the world; an estimated 17 million people are visually impaired because of them.

American researchers conducted a study to determine the impact of cataract surgery on the crash risk for older adults in the years following surgery, compared with that of older adults who have cataract but who decide to not have surgery. The research was supported and funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Health. The study involved a cohort study of 277 patients with cataract, aged 55 to 84 years at enrolment, who were recruited from 12 eye clinics in Alabama with 4 to 6 years of follow-up.

Comparing the cataract surgery group (n = 174) with the no surgery group (n = 103), the rate ratio for crash involvement was 0.47 (95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.94), adjusting for race and baseline visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. The absolute rate reduction associated with cataract surgery was 4.74 crashes per million miles of travel. In the sample, patients with cataract who underwent cataract surgery and intra-ocular lens implantation had half the rate of crash involvement during the follow-up period compared with cataract patients who did not undergo surgery. Cataract surgery thus may have a previously undocumented benefit for older driver safety, reducing subsequent crash rate.

The study appears in the August 21, 2002 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association:  http://jama.ama-assn.org/.