Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Although Cataract Surgery Rate is increasing, the availability of surgery is outstripped by the increasing number of cataract cases as populations age. AIM: The study aimed to identify factors associated with cataract surgery uptake in terms of predisposing, enabling, and need factors in very old Australian women. METHOD: This study used ALSWH data included 6229 women aged 79-84 to 85-90 years. Women were asked whether they had undergone eye surgery (including cataracts) three years prior to each survey. Generalised estimating equation modelling was used to determine factors associated with these surgeries. RESULT: At baseline (2005), more than half of the participants either had undergone surgery (43.5%) or had unoperated cataracts (7.6%). Increasing age (AOR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.07, 1.15) and being current or ex-smokers (AOR = 1.15, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.29) were associated with higher odds of cataract surgery (predisposing factors). Women who had private health insurance had 27% higher odds of having surgery (AOR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.16, 1.39) (enabling factor). Need factors of more General Practitioner visits (AOR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.09, 1.25) and skin cancer (AOR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.17) also increased the odds of cataract surgery. Women who had no difficulty seeing newspaper print were more likely to have had cataract surgery (AOR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.23, 1.48). CONCLUSION: Need factors are the major drivers of cataract surgery; however, predisposing and enabling factors also play a role, including access to private health insurance. This finding indicates some inequity regarding access to cataract surgery in the Australian setting.