The Relation between Sleep Disruption and Cataract in a Large Population-Based Study.

To investigate the relation between sleep disruption and nuclear cataract, as well as the impact of cataract removal on sleep, in two discrete population-based cohorts.

This is a cross-sectional study of 5070 participants from three large longitudinal epidemiologic studies of age-related eye disease, hearing, olfaction, and cognition. Slit-lamp photos of the lens were obtained to grade nuclear cataract using a standardized protocol. The quality of sleep was assessed using a modified Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the associations between levels of nuclear cataract/cataract extraction and the number of sleep problems. Systemic co-morbidity data were included as potential confounders, including diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertension, cerebrovascular disease, thyroid disease, tobacco and alcohol use, and physical component summary score and mental component summary score.

The mean age of the cohort was 57.6 years (range 22-95 years). The majority of the cohort demonstrated nuclear cataract levels 2 or 3 (36.8% and 30.1%, respectively). A total of 8% of the cohort had an intraocular lens (IOL) in at least one eye. There was no statistically significant correlation between sleep problems with presence of either nuclear cataract or IOL implant (p > 0.05).

In this cross-sectional, population-based study, we found no significant association between nuclear cataract or presence of IOL with poor sleep quality after adjusting for potential confounders. Studies of the longitudinal impact of nuclear cataract and cataract removal on sleep are needed to elucidate the role of nuclear cataract and cataract removal on sleep.