Increased risk of falls between cataract surgeries

Cataract patients who have cataract surgery on just one eye and then wait to have surgery on the second eye seem to double their risk of falling between their surgeries. The study was conducted in Australia between 2001 and 2008 and involved 28,400 seniors who had cataract surgery on both eyes and results were published in the Age and Ageing journal. During the study period, 1,094 patients had serious falls that resulted in hospital stays. The average time between eye surgeries was 10 months and when compared to the two years prior to any cataract surgery, patients doubled their chance of falling. In addition, the fall risk was 34 percent higher in the two years after the second surgery than before the initial surgery. Researchers believe that the factors behind this are that during the time between surgeries, patients have two eyes that are no longer working equally and have a loss of depth perception. While researchers say the latest study results cannot definitively point to cataract surgery as the main cause of the falls, they do suggest that eye care providers stress to their patients to be extra cautious after surgery on their first eye.*