Cataract and the increased risk of depression in general population: a 16-year nationwide population-based longitudinal study

Cataract is the primary cause of visual impairment and can be corrected by cataract surgery. We investigated the impact of cataract on the risk of depression along with the benefits of cataract surgery. Patients newly diagnosed with cataract by ophthalmologists between 2001 and 2015 were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan. Non-cataract individuals were recruited by 1:1 matching for age, sex and index year. After propensity score matching, 233,258 patients in total were included in our study: 116,629 in each of the cataract and non-cataract cohorts. The primary outcome was the new diagnosis of depression by psychiatrists. In a mean follow-up period of 7.8 years, cataract was significantly associated with increased risk of developing depression (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.78, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.70–1.87, p < 0.001). We further divided the cataract cohort into surgery and non-surgery groups. Notably, cataract surgery group was associated with a decreased risk of depression compared with non-surgery patients (aHR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.71–0.79, p < 0.001). Our results emphasise the importance of regular screening for depression among cataract patients and the beneficial effect of cataract surgery in reducing the risk of depression.