Comparison of age-specific cataract prevalence in two population-based surveys 6 years apart

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed to compare age-specific cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular (PSC) cataract prevalence in two surveys 6 years apart. METHODS: The Blue Mountains Eye Study examined 3654 participants (82.4% of those eligible) in cross-section I (1992–4) and 3509 participants (75.1% of survivors and 85.2% of newly eligible) in cross-section II (1997–2000, 66.5% overlap with cross-section I). Cataract was assessed from lens photographs following the Wisconsin Cataract Grading System. Cortical cataract was defined if cortical opacity comprised ≥ 5% of lens area. Nuclear cataract was defined if nuclear opacity ≥ Wisconsin standard 4. PSC was defined if any present. Any cataract was defined to include persons who had previous cataract surgery. Weighted kappa for inter-grader reliability was 0.82, 0.55 and 0.82 for cortical, nuclear and PSC cataract, respectively. We assessed age-specific prevalence using an interval of 5 years, so that participants within each age group were independent between the two surveys. RESULTS: Age and gender distributions were similar between the two populations. The age-specific prevalence of cortical (23.8% in 1(st), 23.7% in 2(nd)) and PSC cataract (6.3%, 6.0%) was similar. The prevalence of nuclear cataract increased slightly from 18.7% to 23.9%. After age standardization, the similar prevalence of cortical (23.8%, 23.5%) and PSC cataract (6.3%, 5.9%), and the increased prevalence of nuclear cataract (18.7%, 24.2%) remained. CONCLUSION: In two surveys of two population-based samples with similar age and gender distributions, we found a relatively stable cortical and PSC cataract prevalence over a 6-year period. The increased prevalence of nuclear cataract deserves further study.