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Research
Multisite prospective investigation of psychological outcomes following cataract surgery in Vietnam
  1. David Berle1,2,
  2. Zachary Steel2,3,
  3. Beverley M Essue4,
  4. Lisa Keay4,
  5. Stephen Jan4,
  6. Huynh Tan Phuc5,
  7. Maree L Hackett4
  8. on behalf of the VISIONARY study team
  1. 1Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3St John of God Health Care, Richmond Hospital, North Richmond, New South Wales, Australia
  4. 4The George Institute for Global Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  5. 5The Fred Hollows Foundation Vietnam, Da Nang City, Vietnam
  1. Correspondence to David Berle; david.berle{at}uts.edu.au

Abstract

Background Cataract surgery is a low-cost and effective intervention. There is increasing evidence to suggest that cataract surgery is associated with improvements in mobility, overall functioning and reductions in psychological distress. Within low-income and middle-income countries, cataract surgery has also been documented to lead to reductions in psychological distress; however, differences in economic activity and engagement in paid and domestic work in these countries may moderate such reductions. We aimed to examine the psychological outcomes following cataract surgery among a diverse Vietnamese sample.

Methods We report findings from the VISIONARY study, a 12-month multisite prospective study of cataract surgery outcomes conducted in Vietnam (N=462). Generalised estimating equations (GEEs) were used to identify the variables which were associated with reduced psychological distress.

Results A high proportion of participants (56.6%) reported psychological distress before surgery and severity of psychological distress had decreased by 12 months following surgery (95% CI (4.13 to 4.95)). There were regional differences in the extent of improvement in psychological distress and change in paid and unpaid work. The extent of improvement in visual acuity, male gender, and increase in paid and unpaid work hours were significant predictors of reductions in psychological distress.

Conclusions Cataract surgery appears to result in the greatest reductions in psychological distress in communities where work engagement is highest.

Funding The VISIONARY study was funded by a grant provided by the Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia. During the course of this work, BME was in receipt of an Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) fellowship (1072148), SJ received an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, MLH was in receipt of a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship 100034.

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2016-000162

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Soumitra Bhuyan

    • Twitter Follow Lisa Keay @KeayLisa

    • Contributors DB conducted the data analysis and interpretation and drafted the manuscript. ZS and LK oversaw the data analysis and interpretation and contributed to the drafting of the manuscript. BME, SJ and MLH conceived of and designed the study, including drafting of the protocol, developed all research tools, trained the research staff and contributed to the drafting of the manuscript. HTP assisted in the design of the study and its implementation in Vietnam and provided comments on the manuscript. All authors read, edited and approved the final manuscript.

    • Funding The study was funded by a grant provided by The Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia. The research team had full control of all primary data. During the course of this work, BME was in receipt of an Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) fellowship (1072148), SJ received an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship, and MLH was in receipt of a National Heart Foundation Future Leader Fellowship 100034.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval The study was approved by The University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (protocol number: 13407).

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement No additional data are available.