PATTERN OF CHARACTERISTICS IN CATARACT PATIENTS

Cataract extraction was performed in 1261 eyes. The relevant informati on was complete in 826 cases and thus only these were included in this study. Eleven variables describing clinical history, preoperative fin dings, operative problems and one variable representing visual acuity 4 months postoperatively were entered into a factor analysis model. Th ree factors were extracted by factor analysis, and these factors may b e considered to be the underlying causes embracing the individual vari ables. Factor 1: the maculopathy factor; explained 23.3% of the total variance. Sixteen percent of the variance was attributable to Factor 2 : the miosis factor. Lastly, Factor 3: operative problems; was respons ible for 13.4% of the variance. The maculopathy factor was significant ly associated with postoperative visual acuity (p < 0.001). Slight sig nificant association was also found between the factor for operative p roblems and visual outcome, whereas no association was seen between th e miosis factor and the final vision.