Cataract surgery visual outcomes and associated risk factors in secondary level eye care centers of L V Prasad Eye Institute, India

Purpose: To evaluate cataract surgery visual outcomes and associated risk factors in rural secondary level eye care centers of L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), India. Methods: The Eye Health pyramid of LVPEI has a network of rural secondary care centres (SCs) and attached vision centres (VCs) that provide high quality comprehensive eye care with permanent infrastructure to the most disadvantaged sections of society. The most common procedure performed at SCs is cataract surgery. We audited the outcome of a random sample of 2,049 cataract surgeries done from October 2009-March 2010 at eight rural SCs. All patients received a comprehensive ophthalmic examination, both before and after surgery. The World Health Organization recommended cataract surgical record was used for data entry. Visual outcomes were measured at discharge, 1–3 weeks and 4–11 weeks follow up visits. Poor outcome was defined as best corrected visual acuity <6/18. Results: Mean age was 61.8 years (SD: 8.9 years) and ...