Epidemiology

• Incidence:
  • major cause of blindness worldwide. This may seem surprising, since it is eminently treatable by surgery, with a 95% success rate. However, psychological, social and economical factors prevent many patients from receiving treatment
  • In the UK, cataract surgery remains the most frequently undertaken surgical procedure in the NHS with approximately 452,000 cataract operations undertaken in England and 20,000 in Wales during 2018-2019. (1)
    
    
• age of onset:
  • may occur at any age, but they are predominantly a condition of old age (2)
  • prevalence increases with age:
    • 16% in 65-69 years age group
    • 24% in 70-74 years age group
    • 42% in 75-79 years age group
    • 59% in 80–84 years age group
    • 71% in 85 years plus age group
    • note that there is significant global regional variability, with the highest rates in South Asia. (2)
      
      
• age related cataracts tend to progress slowly
  
  
• cataracts are more common in women than men (2)
  
  
• in addition to age, risk factors for development of cataracts include (3)
  • gender
  • life style factors – smoking, alcohol consumption
  • diabetes mellitus
  • steroid treatment
  • ultraviolet exposure
  • nutrition and socio-economic status
  • dehydration/diarrhoeal crises

References:

1. Royal College of Ophthalmologists. National Ophthalmology Database Audit. Year 5 Annual Report – The Fourth Prospective Report of the National Ophthalmology Database Audit NHS or equivalent Funded Cataract Surgery: 01 September 2018 to 31 August 2019. 2020 [internet publication]
2. GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators; Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study. Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Feb;9(2):e144-60.
3. Gupta VB, Rajagopala M, Ravishankar B. Etiopathogenesis of cataract: an appraisal. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2014 Feb;62(2):103-10