Purpose: Changes in lens may reflect the status of systemic health of human beings but the supporting evidences are not well summarized yet. We aimed to determine the relationship of age-related cataract, cataract surgery and long-term mortality by pooling the results of published population-based studies.
Methods: We searched PubMed and Embase from their inception till March, 2014 for population-based studies reporting the associations of any subtypes of age-related cataract, cataract surgery with all-cause mortality. We pooled the effect estimates (hazards ratios [HRs]) under a random effects model.
Results: Totally, we identified 10 unique population-based studies including 39,659 individuals at baseline reporting the associations of any subtypes of cataract with all-cause mortality from 6 countries. The presence of any cataract including cataract surgery was significantly associated with a higher risk of death (pooled HR: 1.43, 95% CI, 1.21, 2.02; P<0.001; I(2) = 64.2%). In the meta-analysis of 9 study findings, adults with nuclear cataract were at higher risks of mortality (pooled HR: 1.55, 95% CI, 1.17, 2.05; P = 0.002; I(2) = 89.2%). In the meta-analysis of 8 study findings, cortical cataract was associated with higher risks of mortality (pooled HR: 1.26, 95% CI, 1.12, 1.42; P<0.001, I(2) = 29.7%). In the meta-analysis of 6 study findings, PSC cataract was associated with higher risks of mortality (pooled HR: 1.37, 95% CI, 1.04, 1.80; P = 0.03; I(2) = 67.3%). The association between cataract surgery and mortality was marginally non-significant by pooling 8 study findings (pooled HR: 1.27, 95% CI, 0.97, 1.66; P = 0.08; I(2)= 76.6%).
Conclusions: All subtypes of age-related cataract were associated with an increased mortality with nuclear cataract having the strongest association among the 3 cataract subtypes. However, cataract surgery was not significantly related to mortality. These findings indicated that changes in lens may serve as markers for ageing and systemic health in general population.