Unilateral cataract patients perform near and distance activities more easily

Patients with unilateral cataract find it easier to perform near and distance activities than bilateral patients, reveals a study in the Journal of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

Dr Caitriona Kirwan et al., Children's University Hospital, University College, Dublin, Ireland, conducted a retrospective chart review on 16 patients with a history of unilateral cataract and 22 patients with bilateral cataract. Each patient previously underwent surgery when aged 24 months of younger.

Patients aged 13 years or older were selected to partake in the study and educational performance was assessed. There was also a control group of 15 healthy participants with no visual complaints. All volunteers completed a questionnaire.

The bilateral cataract group found it harder to perform near and distance activities compared to the unilateral group. The bilateral group also had significantly lower vision-specific social functioning, role difficulties, mental health, and composite scores.

However, between the unilateral and bilateral groups there was no significant difference in ocular pain, vision-specific social functioning, role difficulties and dependency scores.

Both groups were comparable with regards to general vision scores, but the unilateral cataract group found it easier to perform near and distance activities and specific vision tasks.