April 27, 2026
1 min read
Key takeaways:
- Effective cataract surgery coverage was more likely with higher education but less likely with older age.
- Health education, early screening and prioritizing underserved populations may increase coverage.
Age and education level are significantly related to the odds of undergoing cataract surgery and achieving a good visual outcome, according to a study published in BioMed Research International.
The finding came from an analysis of how many people in a Chinese population had “effective cataract surgery coverage.”
Age and education level are significantly related to the odds of undergoing cataract surgery and achieving a good visual outcome. Image: Adobe Stock
“The cataract surgical coverage metric … quantifies the proportion of individuals within a population who have undergone or are in need of cataract surgery,” Qinrui Hu, of Xiamen Eye Center of Xiamen University, China, and colleagues wrote. “Effective cataract surgery coverage, introduced in 2017, represents a refined metric that accounts for the quality of surgical outcomes by incorporating postoperative visual acuity.”
To learn more about factors that lead to higher or lower rates of effective cataract surgery coverage, Hu and colleagues analyzed data from the Fujian Eye Study involving 8,211 adults in southern China.
Effective cataract surgery coverage was defined as the proportion of people with operable cataracts who underwent cataract surgery and achieved postsurgical visual acuity of 6/12 or better.
According to the results, this population’s overall rate of effective cataract surgery coverage was 34.72%. After lowering the threshold for a “good” outcome to visual acuity of 6/18 and 6/60, the coverage rates were 51% and 92.6%, respectively.
In a multivariate analysis, the only factors significantly associated with effective cataract surgery coverage were age and education level. Coverage was more likely with higher education but less likely with older age.
“For the elderly, comorbidities, financial constraints and lower perceived benefit may contribute to the above results,” the researchers wrote. “Educated individuals may place a higher value on their vision and have a better understanding of the cost-benefit aspects of health care services.”
Overall, the results suggest that coverage in this population “remains suboptimal,” Hu and colleagues wrote.
“Strengthening health education, expanding early screening and prioritizing underserved populations can enhance [effective cataract surgery coverage] and contribute to achieving [universal health coverage] goals,” they wrote.
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