Objectives: The aim of the study is to compare vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) before and after cataract surgery in patients with bilateral blinding age-related cataract at the Specialist Hospital, Sokoto. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted over the period of 5 months. All consecutive patients with bilateral blinding cataracts meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited. Initial pre-operative evaluation includes sociodemographic data and ocular examinations. VRQoL was evaluated using WHO/PBD/VF20. All the patients underwent manual small incision cataract surgery with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation. A post-operative evaluation was done at 5 weeks in all the patients who returned for follow-up, during which visual acuity (VA) and VRQoL were re-evaluated. The data were analysed using International Business Machine Corporation statistical package for the social sciences 20.0 software statistical package for Windows. Results: One hundred and ten patients were recruited for the study of which 105 completed the study. There were 57 females (51.82%), and F: M is 1.08:1. The age of the patients ranged between 42 and 89 years, with the mean age of 64.91 (standard deviation SD 8.66) years. Preoperatively, the mean LogMAR VA and VRQoL were 2.47 (SD 0.21) and 31.49 (SD 13.32), respectively. Postoperatively, the mean LogMAR VA and VRQoL increased to 0.31 (SD 0.31) and 94.42 (SD 6.24), respectively. There was a positive correlation between post-operative presenting VA and quality of life (r = 0.441, p < 0.01). The relationship between education and VRQoL was statistically significant, χ 2 = 15.559, df = 3, p < 0.001. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated significant improvement in VA and VRQoL following small incision cataract surgery. Thus, quality of life assessment should be incorporated into the routine evaluation of patient with cataract.
Yusuf et al. (Sat,) studied this question.