Time trends and gender disparities of Chinese cataract burden and their predictions

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the trends and changes in the number and rates of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and prevalence of cataract in China between 1990 and 2019, and to predict the trends of cataract burden from 2020 to 2030. METHODS: The Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) database was employed to collect the data on DALYs and the prevalence of cataract in China, which was distinguished by age and sex during the past three decades from 1990 to 2019, and then changes in the number and rates of cataract from 2020 to 2030 were predicted. All data were analyzed by the R program (version 4.2.2) and GraphPad Prism 9.0 statistics software. RESULTS: The number of DALYs of cataract increased from 449 322.84 in 1990 to 1 087 987.61 in 2019, number of cataract cases increased from 5 607 600.94 in 1990 to 18 142 568.96 in 2019. The age-standardized DALY rates (ASDR) generally increased slightly [estimated annual percentage change (EAPC=0.1; 95%CI: -0.24 to 0.45), age-standardized prevalence rates (ASPR) also increased (EAPC=0.88; 95%CI: 0.6 to 1.15). Cataract burden increased with age and female gender. Among the causes of cataract, air pollution was the most important, followed by smoking, high fasting plasma glucose, and high body mass index (BMI). The burden of cataract is predicted to grow persistently from 2020 to 2030, the number of DALYs and prevalence for cataract will rise to 2 336 431 and 43 698 620 respectively by 2030, the ASDR is predicted to be 85/100 000 and ASPR will be 1586/100 000 in 2030, females will still be at greater risk of suffering from cataract than males. CONCLUSION: The burden of cataract in China kept rising from 1990 to 2019. Increasing age and female gender are risk factors for cataract. Air pollution, smoking, high fasting plasma glucose, and high BMI are associated with cataract. The burden of cataract in China will gradually increase from 2020 to 2030, the elderly women in particular need attention. Our results may be of help for providing reference strategies to reduce cataract burden in the near future.

Resilience of elderly patients with sarcopenic obesity and age-related visual impairment

“…Существенными причинами нарушения зрения, особенно в старшем возрасте, выступают глаукома и катаракта, представляющие распространённую возраст-ассоциированную офтальмопатологию, как в индустриальных, так и в развивающихся государствах различных континентов [1] . Так, на долю катаракты приходится почти половина всех случаев слепоты [2,3] из-за низкой доступности специализированной офтальмологической помощи для многих слоёв населения отдалённых регионов, слаборазвитой экономики, отставания медицинских технологий по лечению катаракты и низкого уровня образования [4] . По мере того, как проблемы старения становятся всё более серьёзными, заболеваемость катарактой неуклонно повышается, что ложится серьёзным бременем на отдельных людей и систему национального здравоохранения, несмотря на наличие достаточно эффективных способов хирургического лечения катаракты [5,6] .…”

Based on the relationship between anxiety of existential meaninglessness, hope level, and fear of progression, explored the effect of preoperative nursing with Orem theory in the senile cataract population

“…With the advent of an aging society, China has experienced a steady increase in cataract prevalence. From 1990 to 2019, the total number of cataract cases in China surpassed 1.8 million, with projections indicating a continued rise in the cataract burden from 2020 to 2030 (Wu et al, 2023). Cataracts, characterized by degenerative changes in crystalline lens metabolism leading to lens opacity (Delbarre and Froussart-Maille, 2020), primarily affect the middleaged and elderly populations, with age and diabetes identified as key risk factors (Lim et al, 2020;Dai and Zhu, 2022).…”

“…Additionally, individuals suffering from both cataracts and diabetes exhibit a higher susceptibility to depression compared to those with only diabetes (López Sánchez et al, 2021). While some studies suggest that male cataract patients are more likely to experience major depressive disorders (MDD) than females (Kang et al, 2023), others argue that females are at a greater risk for developing cataracts (Wu et al, 2023).…”

Are there sex-based disparities in cataract surgery?

“…A recently published article on the role of sex and gender in eye health stated that "Sex and gender should also be prioritized for guidance on research questions and outcomes data analyses" [7] . The integration of sex and gender differences into clinical research has been shown to inform the pathogenesis of disease [8][9][10] , sex-specific risk factors [11] , patient management, and treatment protocols [12] .…”

“…In regards to cataract surgery, it is recognized that females are at a higher risk of developing cataracts than males [13][14] , possibly due to post-menopausal declining levels of estrogen [13,15] and a longer life expectancy [10,[16][17] . In developing countries, women with cataracts continue to disproportionately suffer from lack of access and worse visual outcomes post-operatively, specifically in places where cataract outcomes remain below the goal established in the World Health Assembly 2013 Global Action Plan goal [1,18] .…”