Does early onset cataract increase the risk of ischemic stroke? A nationwide retrospective cohort study.

This study was attempted to address the association between early onset cataract (EOC) and ischemic stroke. Using the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, we established an EOC cohort and a comparison cohort by using 4-fold propensity score matching according to age, gender and comorbidities to detect the incidence of ischemic stroke. A Cox model was used to express the risk of ischemic stroke for the EOC patients compared with the comparison cohort. After adjusting for age, gender and comorbidities of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, obesity, and atrial fibrillation, the EOC patients had a 1.48-fold higher risk of ischemic stroke than the comparison cohort, but it was not statistically significant. A non-significant increase in the risk of subsequent ischemic stroke development for the EOC patients is demonstrated in this study.