Exogenous hormone use and the risk of surgically treated cataract: Evidence from 91 760 female participants in the 45 and Up Study

Jiaqing Zhang, Xianwen Shang, Zhenzhen Liu, Xuhua Tan, Mingguang He, Xiaotong Han, Lixia Luo

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the association between exogenous hormone use and the risk of cataract surgery among working-aged Australian women. Methods: A total of 91 760 female participants aged 45–65 years and without prior history of cataract surgery were prospectively enrolled between January 2006 and December 2009 in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. A baseline self-reported questionnaire was used to collect information on participant demographic, socio-economic, lifestyle characteristics, medical history as well as the use of hormonal contraception and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Cataract surgery for these participants during 2006–2019 was determined according to the Medicare Benefits Schedule database. Cox regression was used to assess the association between exogenous hormone use and incident cataract surgery during the follow-up. Results: During a mean follow-up of 11.3 years, 10 444 participants underwent cataract surgery with a corresponding incidence of 11.4% (10 444/91 760). Compared with never users, ever and current users of HRT had a 22% and 14% increased risk of cataract surgery, respectively. A dose–response with longer HRT use resulting in a larger increase in cataract surgery risk was observed (p for trend <0.001). Among participants never used HRT, hormonal contraception had a protective effect against incident cataract surgery (hazards ratio: 0.87; 95% confidence interval: 0.80–0.94). Conclusions: Use of HRT significantly increased the risk of cataract surgery, and hormonal contraception use had a protective effect on cataract surgery among HRT non-users. Further studies assessing the effect of different hormone types and doses are needed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e275-e285
Number of pages11
JournalActa Ophthalmologica
Volume101
Issue number3
Early online date17 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • cataract
  • cataract surgery
  • hormonal contraception
  • hormone
  • hormone replacement therapy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ophthalmology

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