Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of cataract surgery among patients with type 2 diabetes in Kinmen, Taiwan.
Methods: A community-based population survey between 1991 and 1993 identified 971 patients over the age of 30 years with type 2 diabetes. In 1999, a total of 578 patients (59.5%) with type 2 diabetes from the population were examined in an ophthalmic screening study. Two senior ophthalmologists employed slit-lamp biomicroscopy, indirect ophthalmoscopy, and retinal photographs with pupil dilatation to examine the patients' lenticular and retinal status.
Results: The prevalence of cataract surgery in one eye, both eyes, and any cataract surgery among patients with type 2 diabetes was 4.5%, 5.4%, and 9.9%, respectively. The prevalence of cataract surgery in women (11.3%) was not significantly higher than in men (7.7%), but there was a statistical increase with age (p = 0.001, chi2 trend test). Multiple logistic regression showed that age (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.07-1.19) and diabetic retinopathy (OR 4.68, 95% CI 1.94-11.33) were independent factors associated with cataract surgery.
Interpretation: Age and diabetic retinopathy were associated with prevalence of cataract surgery among persons with type 2 diabetes.