Impact of rehabilitation measures on cognitive dysfunction in older patients after surgical treatment of nuclear cataract

Background. The high prevalence of nuclear cataracts in older age groups is accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in cognitive abilities as a result of this ophthalmic disease, and other General somatic polymorbid pathology. Aim. To study the cognitive abilities of elderly and senile patients with nuclear cataracts during medical rehabilitation. Materials and methods. In clinical conditions, 68 elderly and senile patients with nuclear cataract underwent femtolaser-assisted cataract phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation, and in the postoperative period, medical and non-drug rehabilitation was performed (the main group). The control group consisted of 65 patients with nuclear cataract of the same age who also underwent the above-mentioned surgery without rehabilitation measures. The MMSE scale was used to assess cognitive impairment. Results. 9 months after surgical treatment, the cognitive status of patients in the main group improved from 17.4±0.2 to 20.7±0.3 points (p>0.05). Moderate initial cognitive dysfunction in patients of the main group changed to mild after 9 months, while in the control group it remained the same. At the same time, the proportion of patients with moderate cognitive impairment decreased significantly in the main group from 61.71±5.9% before rehabilitation to 13.2±4.1% after it was completed, and the number of patients with no cognitive deficit increased (p<0.001). In the control group, the number of patients with moderate cognitive impairment decreased from 60.0±6.0 to 46.2±6.2% (p>0.05). Conclusion. The implementation of rehabilitation measures in the postoperative period helps to improve the cognitive status of older patients with nuclear cataracts.

nuclear cataract, surgical treatment, rehabilitation, elderly and senile age