FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPROVEMENT OF VISUAL ACUITY AFTER CATARACT SURGERY IN MALAYSIA FROM 2014-2018

Introduction: Blindness and visual impairment are part of a global burden of eyes disease. The leading causes of blindness were cataracts, followed by glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. The effective way to treat cataract which causes visual impairment is cataract surgery. It is the most common ocular procedure performed in the world. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting the improvement of visual acuity (VA) among cataract patients after surgery in Malaysia. Methodology: This was a retrospective cohort study. Cataract patients who underwent surgery and were registered from January 2014 to December 2018 with age over 18 years old were extracted from database. Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify the association between the factors and the outcome. Result presentation using odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI).  Result: A total of 199,826 patients were analyzed. Multivariable analysis showed improvement of VA was significantly higher in patients with age group 41-60 years old (OR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.63), female patients (OR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.13), Malay groups (OR: 1.61 95% CI: 1.51, 1.70) and developmental cause of cataract (OR: 1.79 95% CI: 1.10, 2.92). Odds of no ocular comorbidity were 68% (OR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.58, 1.78) higher in vision improvement. Intraoperative and postoperative complications had 1.21(95% CI: 1.08,1.34) and 10.85(95% CI: 10.24,11.51) times higher odds of im-proving VA. Surgery using ECCE with a presence of IOL and performed quickly gave a good result. Older age, gender of female, ethnicity, the primary cause of cataract, absence of ocular comorbidities, Surgeon Grade, surgery type, shortest of duration surgery, presence of IOL, absent of intraoperative complication, and absent of postoperative complication are the factors that affect to be worse to improve VA after undergoing cataract surgery. Discussion/conclusion: The model from ordinal logistic regression demonstrated that age between 41 to 60 years, gender of female, Malay ethnicity, absence of ocular comorbidities, surgery using ECCE, shortest of duration surgery, presence of IOL, absent of intraoperative complication, and absent of postoperative complication are the factors that affect to be worse to improve VA after undergoing cataract surgery. These findings can provide evidence-based information for relevant clinicians and policymakers in planning and implementing interventional programs. [Disclaimer: Abstract text might vary slightly from what is displayed in the e-poster]