Prevalence of lens opacities in surgical and general populations.

The distribution and prevalence of lens opacities were examined and compared among three general population-based groups and a group that underwent cataract surgery. The population-based groups comprised subjects from the Framingham Eye Survey, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and the study of watermen in Maryland. Comparison among these groups revealed similar frequencies of lens opacities among age groups, with slightly higher rates for older individuals in the watermen study population. Comparison between the watermen and the surgical groups revealed that, of lenses with opacities, posterior subcapsular cataracts were present in a far greater percentage of surgery cases (60.6%) than in general population cases (5.3%). These findings confirm the generally held clinical belief that posterior subcapsular opacities are disproportionally represented in the surgical population and suggest that they cause more significant visual disability than do other types of cataracts.

[1]  S. West,et al.  The clinical grading of lens opacities. , 1989, Australian and New Zealand journal of ophthalmology.

[2]  F S Rosenthal,et al.  Effect of ultraviolet radiation on cataract formation. , 1988, The New England journal of medicine.

[3]  S. West,et al.  A simple system for the clinical grading of lens opacities. , 1988, Yan ke xue bao = Eye science.

[4]  F. Ederer,et al.  Epidemiologic associations with nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular cataracts. , 1986, American journal of epidemiology.

[5]  S. West,et al.  The detection and grading of cataract: an epidemiologic perspective. , 1986, Survey of ophthalmology.

[6]  R. Sperduto,et al.  The prevalence of nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular lens opacities in a general population sample. , 1984, Ophthalmology.

[7]  L. Chylack,et al.  Classification of human senile cataractous change by the American Cooperative Cataract Research Group (CCRG) method: III. The association of nuclear color (sclerosis) with extent of cataract formation, age, and visual acuity. , 1984, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[8]  F. Ederer,et al.  Epidemiologic associations with cataract in the 1971-1972 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. , 1983, American journal of epidemiology.

[9]  J. Lepkowski,et al.  Associations among cataract prevalence, sunlight hours, and altitude in the Himalayas. , 1983, American journal of epidemiology.

[10]  M. C. Leske,et al.  The epidemiology of senile cataracts: a review. , 1983, American journal of epidemiology.

[11]  A. J. Campbell,et al.  Prevalence of ocular disease in a population study of subjects 65 years old and older. , 1982, American journal of ophthalmology.

[12]  R. Milton,et al.  Prevalence and aetiology of cataract in Punjab. , 1982, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[13]  T. Dawber,et al.  The Framingham Eye Study monograph: An ophthalmological and epidemiological study of cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and visual acuity in a general population of 2631 adults, 1973-1975. , 1980, Survey of ophthalmology.

[14]  A. Pirie.  Color and solubility of the proteins of human cataracts. , 1968, Investigative ophthalmology.

[15]  A. Kornzweig,et al.  The eye in old age. IV. Ocular survey of over one thousand aged persons with special reference to normal and disturbed visual function. , 1957, American journal of ophthalmology.

[16]  H. Taylor,et al.  Ultraviolet radiation and the eye: an epidemiologic study. , 1989, Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society.

[17]  S. West,et al.  Use of photographic techniques to grade nuclear cataracts. , 1988, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.