Epidemiological profile and visual improvement after cataract surgery performed at a reference ophthalmological hospital in Santos

ABSTRACT Objective To identify the epidemiological profile and visual benefit of the patient using the Unified Health System after cataract surgery. Methods This is a descriptive, cross-sectional and retrospective study with the analysis of medical records, between October and November 2020. We included 573 eyes of 319 patients that were selected for cataract surgery. Gender, age, cataract classification, pre-and post-surgery corrected acuity, smoking, presence of comorbidities, and previous ocular alterations were analyzed. Results Of the cataract surgeries performed, the mean age was 70.5 years (±7.1%), with a prevalence of 57.1% (n=182) in women; 13.8% (n= 44) were smokers. Systemic arterial hypertension was the most recurrent comorbidity, present in 65.8% (n=210), and glaucoma was the most common ocular alteration in 57% (n=45) of the cases. As for cataract classification, nuclear cataract was manifested in 71.9% (n=412). Visual acuity was evaluated by the logMAR scale, and counting fingers and hand motion were given the value of 3. Mean visual acuity before surgery was 0.7 with an SD of 0.9 and, after surgery, of 0.1, with an SD of 0.3, which was statistically significant. Conclusion Knowledge of the epidemiological profile and visual benefit after cataract surgery allows us to identify risk groups and the importance of the procedure to improve the quality of life. Public actions must be implemented to increase the number of projects that aim to reduce the number of cataracts, since it is the main cause of reversible blindness in the world, interfering with the daily life of the population.