| BRIEF COMMUNICATION |
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| Year : 2017 | Volume
: 24
| Issue : 2 | Page : 91-93 |
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Using the postoperative visual acuity to monitor the quality of cataract surgery: Does the day one visual acuity following cataract surgery correlate with the final visual acuity?
Halimatu Aliyu1, Hamzah Mustak2, Colin Cook2
1 Department of Surgery, Ophthalmology Unit, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria
2 Division of Ophthalmology, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Correspondence Address:
Colin Cook
Division of Ophthalmology, H53 OMB, Groote Schuur Hospital, Observatory, 7925 Cape Town
South Africa
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/meajo.MEAJO_279_16
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Purpose: Monitoring the visual acuity following cataract surgery is used as a measure of the quality of the surgery in blindness prevention programs in middle- and low-income countries. While the day 1 visual acuity is usually available, the (final) visual acuity after several weeks may not be available, as the majority of patients may not return for review. This study was undertaken to ascertain if the early and late visual acuities are correlated and if the day 1 visual acuity can be used to predict the likely final visual acuity.
Methods: A retrospective case note review was undertaken of all eyes having cataract surgery over a 6-month period.
Results: There was a positive correlation between the day 1 and week 6 visual acuities in both the World Health Organization categories (Spearman coefficient = 0.4666, P = 0.001) and the logMAR visual acuity scores (Spearman coefficient = 0.5425, P = 0.001).
Conclusion: In blindness prevention programs in middle- and low-income countries with poor postoperative follow-up where it is not possible to document the final visual acuity in all the operated cases, there is merit in documenting and monitoring the day 1 visual acuity as a quality control measure. |
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