Impact of bilateral cataract surgery on vision-related activity limitations.

Purpose: To evaluate patients' vision-related activity limitation before and after bilateral cataract surgery using the German version of the Catquest-9SF questionnaire.

Setting: Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria, and Ophthalmic Clinic, Minden, Germany.

Design: Questionnaire development.

Methods: This prospective 2-center study included patients who were scheduled for bilateral cataract surgery and attended their preassessment appointment approximately 1 week before cataract surgery. All patients self-administered the Catquest-9SF at the preassessment session and a second time 3 months after cataract surgery. The questionnaire includes 9 items and is a revised short form of the Catquest, scored using Rasch analysis. The Catquest-9SF includes questions concerning vision-associated problems in everyday life, general satisfaction with vision, and difficulties performing activities.

Results: The study comprised 210 patients, 120 in Austria and 90 in Germany. The mean age of all patients was 74.1 years (range 41 to 92 years). Patients mostly had difficulties doing handwork (42%) or recognizing uneven surfaces (30%). Sixty percent of the patients in Austria and approximately 50% in Germany were very unsatisfied with their vision preoperatively. Postoperatively, all patients recognized a subjective improvement in their vision.

Conclusions: Patients having bilateral cataract surgery achieved marked improvements in vision-related activity limitation and satisfaction with vision. A subset of patients with less vision-related activity limitation before surgery was satisfied with first-eye surgery only.