Congenital cataract does not greatly affect quality of life in young adults

History of congenital cataract does not affect quality of life or educational achievements in adolescents and young adults, claims a study in the Journal of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

Dr Caitriona Kirwan et al., Mater Private Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, performed a retrospective chart review on patients who underwent cataract surgery below the age of 24 months. The National Eye Institute 25-item Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) was used to assess vision-specific health-related quality of life in adolescents and young adults. A control group of healthy volunteers with no visual complaints was also included in the study.

Unilateral cataract was recorded in 16 patients, bilateral cataract in 22 patients and 15 people were in the control group. The bilateral participants experienced greater difficulty with regards to near and distance activities, compared to the unilateral group.

Between the unilateral and control group there were no significant differences in ocular pain, vision-specific social functioning, role difficulties and dependency scores. All patients attended main-stream school and the majority had attended university, meaning educational achievements were high in both cataract groups.