LAUSR

To evaluate the effect of cataract surgery on vision-related quality of life (VR-QOL) in cataract patients with high myopia (HM). In this prospective study, 90 patients with bilateral HM (HM group, mean [SD] age, 62.9 [9.7] years) and 90 age-matched patients with normal axial lengths (ALs) (control group) who underwent phacoemulsification surgery were consecutively included. The VR-QOL was evaluated using the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively. During the same periods, the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was recorded. Postoperatively, the BCVA improved significantly in the HM group, with 78 patients (86.7%) achieving improvements ≥0.2 logMAR units, higher than that in the control group (61.1%, P < 0.001). Although the preoperative NEI-VFQ-25 composite score was lower in the HM group than in the control group (65.8 ± 4.7 [95% CI] versus 77.3 ± 3.8, P < 0.001), the postoperative composite score was not significantly different between the two groups (87.5 ± 2.6 versus 90.4 ± 1.6, P = 0.126); changes in composite score and scores of 7 subscales were greater in the HM group than in the control group (P < 0.05 for all). In the HM group, but not in the control group (r = −0.019, P = 0.860), patient age was negatively associated with the change in composite score (r = −0.235, P = 0.026). Preoperative BCVA (logMAR) was positively associated with changes in composite score for both groups (r = 0.796 and 0.714, respectively, P < 0.001 for both). VR-QOL is significantly impaired in cataract patients with HM and is remarkably improved by cataract surgery. The improvement is greater than that in normal AL cases.