Shekhan Technical College and Institute

Department of Nursing

Grade : 2nd Stage

2nd Semester 2022 – 2023

Adult Nursing
14th Lecture Title

“Cataract ”

Subject Lecturer : Dr. Saad Hussein Murad

 Definition: A cataract is a lens opacity or cloudiness.
 Background :
1. Cataracts rank behind only arthritis and heart disease as a leading cause of
disability in older adults.
2. Cataracts affect who are 40 years of age or older, or about one in six people
in this age range.
3. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world
 Pathophysiology
1. Cataracts can develop in one or both eyes at any age as a result of a variety
of causes such as Cigarette smoking, long-term use of corticosteroids,
especially at high doses, sunlight and ionizing radiation, diabetes, obesity,
and eye injuries can increase the risk of cataracts.
2. The three most common types of senile (age-related) cataracts are defined by
their location in the lens: nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular.
3. The extent of visual impairment depends on their size, density, and location
in the lens.
 Risk Factors for Cataract Formation
1. Aging
2. Associated Ocular Conditions
3. Toxic Factors
4. Nutritional Factors
5. Physical Factors
6. Systemic Diseases and Syndromes
 Clinical Manifestations
1. Painless, blurry vision is characteristic of cataracts.
2. The person perceives that surroundings are dimmer, as if his or her glasses
need cleaning.
 3. Light scattering is common, and the person experiences reduced contrast
sensitivity, sensitivity to glare, and reduced visual acuity.
4. Other effects include myopic shift (return of ability to do close work [eg,
reading fine print] without eyeglasses), astigmatism, monocular diplopia
(double vision), color shift (the aging lens become progressively more
absorbent at the blue end of the spectrum), brunescens (color values shift to
yellow-brown), and reduced light transmission.
 Assessment and Diagnostic Findings
1. Decreased visual acuity is directly proportionate to cataract density.
2. The Snellen visual acuity test, ophthalmoscopy, and slit-lamp
biomicroscopic examination are used to establish the degree of cataract
formation.
3. The degree of lens opacity does not always correlate with the patient’s
functional status.
 Medical Management
1. No nonsurgical (medications, eyedrops, eyeglasses) treatment cures cataracts
or prevents age-related cataracts.
2. In the early stages of cataract development, glasses, contact lenses, strong
bifocals, or magnifying lenses may improve vision.
Reference

 Brunner, L. S., Suddarth, D. S., Smeltzer, S. C. O., & Bare, B. G. (2018),

Brunner & Suddarth's textbook of medical-surgical nursing (14th ed.),
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.