Korean J Ophthalmol.  2013 Oct;27(5):345-350. 10.3341/kjo.2013.27.5.345.

Cataracts among Adults Aged 30 to 49 Years: A 10-Year Study from 1995 to 2004 in Korea

• Cho HK
• Na KS
• Jun EJ
• Chung SK

• KMID: 1707288
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.2013.27.5.345

Abstract

PURPOSE
To investigate the long-term characteristics of cataracts among adults aged 30 to 49 years in Korean over a span of 10 years.
METHODS
Subjects between the ages of 30 to 49 years who underwent cataract surgery at St. Mary's Hospital from 1995 to 2004 (n = 976) were included. Patients with a history of ocular trauma, uveitis, other ocular or systemic diseases, and congenital cataracts were excluded. Additional information including type of lens opacity, urban/rural region, and pre- and postoperative visual acuities were analyzed. Lens opacity grading was conducted using Lens Opacity Classification System III. The Cochran-Armitage proportion trend test was used to analyze vision changes with the passage of time.
RESULTS
Among the patients who had undergone cataract surgeries, 8.8% (976 / 11,111) met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 41.7 +/- 5.45 years. Gender breakdown of the patient population included 79.0% male and 21.0% female. In terms of home environment, 60.9% were from an urban region and 39.1% from a rural region. Opacity type included anterior polar (AP), posterior subcapsular (PSC), AP and PSC, cortical, and nuclear in 35.7%, 35.1%, 7.0%, 6.0%, and 5.4% of patients, respectively. At a 2-month postoperative follow-up appointment, 92.7% of patients showed a best-corrected visual acuity of more than 20 / 40.
CONCLUSIONS
Predominance of AP and PSC opacities as well as male patients was observed in this study population.

Keyword

Anterior polar opacity; Epidemiology; Korea; Posterior subcapsular opacity

MeSH Terms

Adult
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Cataract/*epidemiology/pathology
*Cataract Extraction
Female
*Forecasting
Humans
Incidence
Lens Capsule, Crystalline/*pathology
Male
Middle Aged
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Retrospective Studies

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Changes of the proportion of adults with cataracts aged 30 to 49 years over 10 years. The proportion of adults aged from 30 to 49 years who underwent cataract surgery displayed statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of cataracts as time progressed (Cochran-Armitage test, p = 0.0002).

• 

  Fig. 2 The proportion of each type of lens opacity in adults aged from 30 to 49 years who underwent cataract surgery. Anterior polar (AP) opacity (35.7%, 348 / 976) and posterior subcapsular (PSC) opacity (35.1%, 343 / 976) were the most common type of lens opacity among all subjects. Mixed AP and PSC opacities (7.0%, 68 / 976) were more common than cortical opacities (6.0%, 59 / 976) alone or nuclear opacities (5.4%, 53 / 976) alone. Mixed nuclear and cortical type lens opacities accounted for 10.8% (105 / 976) of the total opacity types. CO = cortical opacity; NO = nuclear opacity.

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