ABSTRACT
Objective:
To evaluate quality of life of elderly patients before and after cataract surgery.
Methods:
A longitudinal analytical study with quantitative approach. Data collection was performed in two stages (before cataract surgery and 2 months after the procedure), when two questionnaires were used - a sociodemographic and the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQLD). Descriptive statistics and Student’s t test, analysis of variance, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were employed.
Results:
A total of 34 elderly individuals participated in the research, 15 (44.1%) aged up to 69 years and 19 (55.9%) over 69 years. A decrease in the Sensory Functioning scores was identified in those who had no leisure activity (p=0.0006), did not exercise (p=0.0023) and did not use the internet (p=0.0010). In the domain Past, Present and Future Activities, an increase in the score was observed in the elderly who had no leisure activity (p=0.0258), did not exercise (p=0.0303), reported having other health problems (p=0.0372), and in those who reported having good health status (p=0.0298). In the Social Participation domain, there was an increase in the score of the elderly who had no leisure activity (p=0.0068), did not exercise (p=0.0033), and of those who reported having regular health status (p=0.0102).
Conclusion:
There was a decrease in Sensory Functioning scores and an increase in the domains Past, Present and Future Activities, as well as Social Participation.
Keywords:
Cataract extraction; Social participation; Quality of life; Health of the elderly