Cognitive and Affective Changes After Cataract Surgery in an Elderly Population.

The authors report on a sample of 108 subjects over 60 years old who underwent cataract surgery and were assessed for cognitive and affective changes before surgery and at 1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Cataract surgery did not predispose to significant cognitive deterioration in the perioperative period nor during the first postoperative year. However, objective vision changes, the subjective measure of adjustment to the effects of surgery, and a high depression score before surgery were significant predictors of depression at the end of the study year.