Cataract surgery in Norway 2010-19.

Background: Cataract surgery is a very common intervention. The objective of this study was to investigate the trends in the number of cataract surgeries in Norway and the characteristics of patients who underwent cataract surgery in the period 2010-19.

Material And Method: Data on cataract surgery were collected from the Norwegian Patient Registry. The number of cataract surgeries per million inhabitants was calculated on the basis of population data from Statistics Norway.

Results: The number of cataract surgeries in Norway increased from 36 340 in 2010 to 48 291 in 2019. This corresponded to an increase of 21 %, from 7 480 to 9 063 per million inhabitants respectively, in the same period. The average age was 74 years, and more than 90 % of the patients were above the age of 60. The proportion of cataract surgeries among patients older than 60 years remained virtually unchanged through the study period. Women accounted for 60 % of the cataract surgeries in 2010 and 57 % in 2019. The proportion of surgeries performed by contract specialists in the entire period varied from 32 % in Central Norway Regional Health Authority to 62 % in Northern Norway Regional Health Authority.

Interpretation: The number of cataract surgeries increased throughout the period in pace with the population growth in the age group above 60 years. With further population growth and an increasing number of older people, planning for a further increase in the number of cataract surgeries in future years is likely to be required.