Testing Activities of Daily Living (ADL) in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration Undergoing Cataract Surgery: Lessons Learned from the Past and Development of a New Quality of Life (QOL) Test

• Authors: Andreas F. Borkenstein, Privatklinik der Kreuzschwestern; Eva-Maria Borkenstein, Privatklinik der Kreuzschwestern; Karen Murphy, VisionWorks Rehabilitation, LLC; Susan Primo, Emory University
• Journal Title: Clinical Ophthalmology
• Volume: Volume 16
• Publisher: Dove Press | 2022-01-01, Pages 385-387
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S356423
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Opthamology
• Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe, permanent visual impairment and blindness in people over the age of 60. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 8.7% of global blindness is caused by AMD. The financial burden is enormous with global costs of visual impairment reaching US $343 billion. In 2020, estimated 15.2 million people aged over 50 years were blind worldwide, and an additional 78.8 million had moderate-to-severe vision impairment due to cataracts.1 Cataract and age-related macular degeneration are common causes of decreased vision, causing visual impairment that often occurs simultaneously. Although modern cataract surgery is a safe and effective treatment for cataract-induced visual loss, some ophthalmologists have had fear in the past that surgery could worsen macular degeneration. This has been disproven by various studies in the past.2,3 It was shown that Quality of Life (QOL) benefits were predominant in the group that underwent cataract surgery and that there was no increased risk of progression of maculopathy.4 Recent clinical and scientific evidence does not find cataract surgery to cause or worsen AMD.5 Nevertheless, the reduced prognosis and possible effects should be discussed in detail with the patients already preoperatively.