Abstract
Cataracts is an eye disorder that is the leading cause of vision loss in the United States. Although individuals with cataracts typically undergo cataract surgery, the impact of this treatment on depression remains inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of cataract surgery on depression among older adults through a propensity score analysis. Data was retrieved from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which surveys a nationally representative sample of older adults over age 50. The sample was restricted to individuals with cataracts, but have not previously undergone cataract surgery (n=182) in 2010. Depression was measured by the seven-item Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form (CIDI-SF) scale in 2012. Greedy matching and propensity score weighting were both conducted as a sensitivity analysis to estimate the effect of cataract surgery on depression. Through Poisson regression, both approaches were consistent in suggesting a statistically significant increase in depression scores following cataract surgery. Greedy matching indicated individuals who received cataract surgery were expected to have an incidence rate for depression scores 4.81 times that of individuals without surgery (p<.05). Propensity score weighting indicated an average treatment effect (ATE) incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 2.65 (p<.05) and an average treatment effect for the treated (ATT) IRR of 3.00 (p<.05) for individuals with cataract surgery. Our findings support previous studies in suggesting cataract surgery may exacerbate depressive symptoms in older adults. Therefore, further research is needed to understand factors contributing to increased depression following cataract surgery and how this can be prevented.
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