Abstract
Purpose: To find the frequency of cataract and to study the relationship between
cataract development and tobacco use.
Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Single day eye camp at Dow University Hospital
Karachi in August 2016.
Material and Methods: All patients presenting to the camp were screened
through standard eye examination including refraction and fundoscopy. After
dilatation of pupil these patients were examined with a slit lamp by a consultant
ophthalmologist for confirmation of the presence of cataract and its type.
Participants were then questioned regarding the type of tobacco use and its
duration and frequency with which it was consumed. Those patients with a
history of tobacco consumption for more than ten years were included in the
study.
Results: A total of 550 patients presented to the eye camp of which 120
(21.81%) subjects were found to have a cataract. The mean age of the subjects
was 58.02 ± 8.3 years. There were 67 (55.8%) males and 53 (44.2%) females.
Among the patients diagnosed with cataract 89 (74.2%) had no history of
tobacco usage while 31 (25.8%) gave a positive response regarding tobacco
consumption. In nonsmokers the most common cataract was cortical where as in
cigarette smokers it was nuclear 8 (57.1%) and in users of smokeless tobacco it
was posterior subcapsular 5 (38.5%). There were no pseudophakic patients
seen as almost all came from remote areas where there was lack of surgical
facility.
Conclusion: Tobacco consumption has a strong association with cataract
development. Cigarette Smoking as well as chewing smokeless tobacco should
be curtailed or avoided altogether.
Saba Alkhairy, Farnaz Siddiqui, Mazhar-ul-Hassan, Arif Nayani. (2019) Frequency of Cataract and its Association with Tobacco Use in Subjects of an Eye Camp, Pakistan Journal of Ophthalmology, Volume 35, Issue 2.
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