A study of the correlation between patient-reported outcomes and clinical outcomes after cataract surgery in ophthalmic clinics

PurposeTo analyse the relationship between patient-reported outcome measures and clinical outcome measures in 42 individual Swedish cataract surgery settings. MethodsThe study material consisted of follow-up data on cataract extractions collected by the Swedish National Cataract Register in 2008-2011. Patient-reported outcome was measured using the Catquest-9SF questionnaire. A total of 9707 pairs of questionnaires completed before and after a cataract extraction were analysed together with clinical data. The analyses were performed for each clinic. ResultsFor almost all clinics, a factor related to a poor patient-reported outcome after surgery was a good preoperative self-assessed visual function. For some clinics, up to 50% of the patients stated that they were very satisfied with their vision before surgery. For single clinics, different factors such as large anisometropia (3D), capsule complications, biometry prediction error (3D) and ocular comorbidity were related to a poor patient-reported outcome. In situations where the clinical outcome was good and the patient-reported outcome was poor, problems with near-vision activities after surgery was the main factor noted. ConclusionsAnalysing factors related to a poor patient-reported outcome for each clinic showed large variation. Weak indication for surgery, refractive problems after surgery, surgical complications and a poor chance of visual recovery due to ocular comorbidity were among the reasons for a poor patient-reported outcome. Post-operative care in terms of establishing a good near vision seemed to be another problem for some clinics.