[Utilization of ophthalmology services by patients with cataract in public hospitals in Romania, in the year 2007].

UNLABELLED: The aim of this paper was to find out the pattern for public hospital services use by patients with cataract. The research was done by interrogating the DRG data base of the NSPHHSM (5,137,237 patients). Out of a total of 119,560 discharges from ophthalmology hospitals and wards in 2007, 32.8% had cataract as the main diagnosis. In Bucharest there were 5 times more cases than in the districts of Iasi, Cluj, Dolj and Timis. Two hospitals covered 84% of the cases in Bucharest, most of them being cataract in the elderly. Most of the patients were female, the main age group was over 65 years old. The main diseases that had cataract as secondary diagnosis were diabetes mellitus, glaucoma, other eye diseases, stroke and ischemic heart disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Cataract is a disease that affects mainly the elderly. They use public hospital services, benefiting from the insertion of foldable or other types of artificial intraocular lens, in the hospitals of Bucharest and district university centers like Iasi, Cluj, Dolj and Timis. The average length of stay remains high.