Cataract is the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide and surgery is the only effective treatment. Previous studies show that visual impairment impacts the patient's socioeconomic status(SES). However, how cataract surgery affects the SES of cataract patients in rural area of China has not been determined before.~In the investigators study, cataract patients in rural area of Southern China will be enrolled and randomly divided into two groups. Cataract surgery will be performed in 4 weeks in intervention group, while performed at 1 year later in control group. The annual personal income by work, annual household income, hours in paid and unpaid work in the previous month, real estate ownership, household expenditures and quality of life will be investigated before and 1 year after surgery. Then, the difference in SES and quality of life change between two groups at 1 year later will be assessed.
This is a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effect of cataract surgery on the socioeconomic status of cataract patients in rural area of Southern China.