Patient Attitudes and Desirability Regarding Immediate Sequential Bilateral Cataract Surgery.

Purpose: To analyze patient attitudes and desirability regarding routine immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS).

Methods: This study was conducted as a prospective, consecutive survey-based case series from a single private practice institution serving a mostly rural population. A standardized phone survey assessing patient perspectives on ISBCS was administered to patients before and after routine delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery (DSBCS) was performed. Subject responses were analyzed, including a subset analysis on patient responses under a variety of circumstances.

Results: There were 61 patients enrolled into the study and 47 completed the surveys before and after routine DSBCS (77.0% completion rate). Thirty-nine (83.0%) of respondents had a favorable outlook of ISBCS preoperatively, whereas 36 (76.6%) had a favorable outlook of ISBCS postoperatively (p>0.05). On the postoperative questionnaire, twenty-five (53.2%) of respondents were willing to accept additional surgical risk if necessary to receive ISBCS, and this finding was significant between the subgroup of patients with systemic health co-morbidities compared to those without systemic health co-morbidities (p=0.05).

Conclusion: Most patients had a favorable outlook of ISBCS before and after undergoing DSBCS. Patients with underlying systemic health co-morbidities were most likely to accept additional surgical risk if necessary to receive ISBCS. From a patient's perspective, ISBCS may be an acceptable option to routinely implement when cataract surgery is required for both eyes.