Studies have shown an association between cataract surgery and lower mortality risk, possibly as a result of improvements in health status and functional independence after surgery. However, the association between cataract surgery and cause-specific mortality hadn't been previously examined. Using data from the Women's Health Initiative-a study of U.S. postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79 begun in 1993 and made up of four overlapping, randomized clinical trials-researchers evaluated the association between cataract surgery and total and cause-specific mortality in a large cohort of women age 65 or older who had cataracts. The actual study cohort included a total of 74,044 women, of whom 41,735 had cataract surgery. Baseline characteristics of the two groups were similar.

The researchers adjusted for demographics, systemic and ocular comorbidities, and lifestyle factors. They found that women who underwent cataract surgery had a lower risk of dying from any cause, as well as of dying from vascular, cancer, accidental, neurologic, pulmonary, and infectious conditions, compared with women who had cataracts but didn't have surgery.

Lower mortality rates in the group of women who had cataract surgery, however, don't prove a causal relationship between cataract surgery and reduced mortality, according to the researchers. Factors such as higher socioeconomic status and a healthier lifestyle could also explain this association.

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