Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Dementia and cataract surgery in Australia and New Zealand

Dementia and cataract surgery in Australia and New Zealand Policy ImpactA recent publication reported that cataract surgery reduces the risk of dementia by 30% over 10 years. This is the most relevant news in ophthalmology in the last few years and has global implications for health care. Health policy should adapt to provide evidence‐based vision care for older people to improve health‐related outcomes.Practice ImpactThis article raises awareness amongst health professionals working with older patients about vision loss and the benefit of cataract surgery for reducing dementia risk.INTRODUCTIONThe majority of the information that we receive from our environment is visual (80%). Vision loss is commonly related to cataracts in older adults and is associated with a higher risk of mortality and morbidity. For example, patients with low vision have 1.5–2 times the risk of falls and injuries, 4–8 times the risk of hip fracture and 3.5 times the risk of depression and cognitive deterioration.1 A cataract is the cause of vision loss in more than 15% of Australians and 13% of New Zealanders, causing blindness in 11% of Australians and New Zealanders older than 40 years.2,3 We have new evidence that cataract surgery reduces the risk of dementia independently of the benefits to vision.4DEMENTIADementia affects more than 55 million people worldwide, with http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australasian Journal on Ageing Wiley

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/dementia-and-cataract-surgery-in-australia-and-new-zealand-fKd0y70f60

References (40)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2023 AJA Inc.
ISSN
1440-6381
eISSN
1741-6612
DOI
10.1111/ajag.13208
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Policy ImpactA recent publication reported that cataract surgery reduces the risk of dementia by 30% over 10 years. This is the most relevant news in ophthalmology in the last few years and has global implications for health care. Health policy should adapt to provide evidence‐based vision care for older people to improve health‐related outcomes.Practice ImpactThis article raises awareness amongst health professionals working with older patients about vision loss and the benefit of cataract surgery for reducing dementia risk.INTRODUCTIONThe majority of the information that we receive from our environment is visual (80%). Vision loss is commonly related to cataracts in older adults and is associated with a higher risk of mortality and morbidity. For example, patients with low vision have 1.5–2 times the risk of falls and injuries, 4–8 times the risk of hip fracture and 3.5 times the risk of depression and cognitive deterioration.1 A cataract is the cause of vision loss in more than 15% of Australians and 13% of New Zealanders, causing blindness in 11% of Australians and New Zealanders older than 40 years.2,3 We have new evidence that cataract surgery reduces the risk of dementia independently of the benefits to vision.4DEMENTIADementia affects more than 55 million people worldwide, with

Journal

Australasian Journal on AgeingWiley

Published: Sep 1, 2023

Keywords: cataract; cognitive dysfunction; dementia; quality of health care; residential facilities

There are no references for this article.