CATARACT PATIENTS IN A DEFINED SWEDISH POPULATION 1986-1990

With the Cataract Analysis System (CAS(TM)) we have analyzed 5878 cons ecutive cataract patients operated from 1986 through 1990. The materia l is complete enough to be regarded as representative of the cataract surgery performed in the entire referral region of the Lund Health Car e District during this period. There has been a striking increase in t he number of operations, in 1990 reaching 3.6 per 1000 inhabitants in the referral region. Simultaneously, surgery has changed from being ma inly an in-patient to an out-patient procedure. Females predominate in the material, also after adjustment for the female preponderance in t he population. Most likely, this is due to a higher incidence of catar act in women than in men.