Evaluation of the Visual Function Indices after Senile Cataract Surgery

Senile cataract is the opacity of the crystalline lens which is usually due to aging. Visual functions have an important role in the quantity of vision. The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the visual function indices before the cataract surgery and respectively one and two months after the surgery. Forty patients (14 female and 26 male) with senile cataract have been monitored in this research. The mean age was 51.1±8.4 years. All patients were examined by Log MAR Visual Acuity (VA) test, Ishihara Color Vision (CV) test (the number of pages with correct answer) and Freiburg Contrast Sensitivity (CS) test (in 1, 5 and 7 cycles per degree (cpd) at different spatial frequencies (SF)), as the indices of visual functions before the surgery and respectively one and two months after it. At first, the normality of data distribution has been tested by Klomogorov-Smirnov test. In addition, repeated measures ANOVA has been used for the comparison of data variance with Greenhouse-Geisser and Mauchly tests and the Partial test has been used for the evaluation of correlation between the data. There was a significant difference in visual acuity before the surgery and respectively one (P=0.003) and two (P=0.007) months after it (ie, increasing in VA index) and the same for two months after the surgery in comparison with one month after it (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in color vision before the surgery and respectively one (P=0.370) and two months (P=0.367) after it. There was no significant difference in contrast sensitivity before the surgery and respectively one and two months after it except for SF 1 cpd (P=0.045 for one month and P=0.021 for two months after the surgery). Cataract surgery increases the VA and the CS in low spatial frequencies significantly, but has no significant influence on color vision.