Cataracts Risk Factors and Comparison of Blood Glucose Levels in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients towards the Occurrence of Cataracts

BACKGROUND: Cataracts are a multifactorial systemic disease that causes opacity of the optical lens. One aetiology of cataracts is chronic hyperglycemia, usually caused by uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. AIM: The objective of this study is to identify risk factors of cataracts and to analyse if there is a significant difference in blood glucose values between diabetic patients with cataracts and non-diabetic patients with cataracts. METHODS: This was an analytical case-control study with a sample size of 140 patients that were obtained via consecutive sampling of medical records. RESULTS: This study found that age, high body mass index and hypertension were the dominant risk factors of cataracts. The mean value of blood glucose levels in diabetic patients with cataracts is 195.58 ± 63.9 and 109.7 ± 26.4 in non-diabetic patients with cataracts. There was a significant difference between the blood glucose values of diabetic patients with cataracts and non-diabetic patients with cataracts (p < 0.001). The dominant risk factors of cataracts were old age, high body mass index and hypertension. The majority of hyperglycemic patients belong in the group of diabetic patients with cataracts. CONCLUSION: Chronic hyperglycemia can increase a patient’s risk of cataracts.