Objectives: Cataract is the main cause of preventable blindness throughout the world, and it is known that various factors play roles in its development. The relationship between smoking and cataract development, which is examined for years, is important as smoking is a preventable factor. We aimed to determine the effect of smoking on cataract development.

Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 237 cataract patients operated in the Ophthalmology Clinic of our hospital were evaluated. The ones having risk factors for developing cataracts other than advanced age were excluded and other 123 patients were included in the study. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of smoker and non-smoker patients were compared using appropriate statistical methods.

Results: Seventy-six (61.8%) of these patients were males, and 47 (38.2%) were females. Fifty-four (43.9%) of all patients were smokers, and 69 (56.1%) were non-smokers. Mean ages were 64.9±9.1 years, mean cataract formation ages were 62.3±9.3 years, and mean cataract operation ages were 63.9±9.1 years in the smoking group; in the non-smoking group, mean ages were 73.1.9±7.5 years, mean cataract formation ages were 71.0±7.2 years, and mean cataract operation ages were 72.5±7.4 years respectively. Ages, cataract formation ages, and cataract operation ages were significantly higher in the non-smoking group compared to smoking group (p<0.01).

Conclusion: It was concluded that except from the caused metabolic abnormalities, smoking had important effect of early phase cataract development and this issue should be investigate with detailed prospective studies. ©2006, Fırat Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi