[Survey surgery delay for age-related cataract by a questionnaire in Qingdao].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the reasons why patients suffering hypermature or mature cataract in the urban Qingdao city do not undergo cataract surgery in time.

METHODS

104 inpatients with mature or hypermature age-related cataract were interviewed with a questionnaire concerning medical, economic, social and psychological factors.

RESULTS

The factors related with the surgery delay were medical factor 44.3%, economic factor 7.1%, social factor 20.7% and psychological factor 27.9%. In the lists of detailed reasons, 'cataract being not mature' ranked the first (17.1%), 'unaware of cataract' (14.3%) and "still able to see something" (10.0%) were followed. The history of cataract surgery, age, degree of education, the knowledge of cataract and individual income all played some roles in the delay of cataract surgery (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

It is important to educate people about cataract knowledge and clarify the role of cataract surgery in order to convince patients to have cataract surgery done in time and improve life quality.