Impact of gender on first eye cataract surgery and motor vehicle crash risk for older drivers.

BACKGROUND

No study to date has examined gender differences in crash risk after cataract surgery. Therefore, this study aimed to determine gender-related differences in the effectiveness of first eye cataract surgery in reducing crash risk for older drivers.

DESIGN

This retrospective before and after study used whole population linked data to compare the frequency of police reported crashes 1 year before and 1 year after first eye cataract surgery for the years 1997-2006.

PARTICIPANTS

All patients aged 60-85 years who had first eye cataract surgery between 1997 and 2006 in Western Australia and were involved in a motor vehicle crash 12 months before and/ or after surgery.

METHODS

Two separate generalized estimating equation Poisson models were undertaken for males and females to compare crash frequency before and after surgery.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Police-reported crashes before and after cataract surgery.

RESULTS

A large proportion of the cohort involved in a crash either 1 year before or 1 year after first eye cataract surgery were male (n = 1091, 63.6%) compared with female (n = 624, 36.3%). Results from the generalized estimating equation Poisson models showed a significant reduction of 15.3% (P = 0.040) in all police reported crash frequency for males 1 year after cataract surgery. However, there was no significant change in crash frequency after surgery for females.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study suggest that clinicians may need to take gender into account when advising patients on driving safety before and after cataract surgery.