Gender- and Age-Related Differences of Ocular Biometric Parameters in Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Purpose: The aim of the study is to determine the distribution and mutual relationship of ocular biometric parameters, as well as to evaluate gender- and age-related differences in patients undergoing cataract surgery in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Materials and methods: It was a retrospective cross-sectional study of consecutive patients who underwent cataract surgery between January 2017 and December 2021 in a tertiary care clinic. All biometric measurements were performed using the optical biometer OA-2000 (Tomey, Nagoya, Japan).

Results: The study evaluated 1278 eyes from 1278 consecutive cataract patients. The average age of all included patients was 69.4 ± 9.98 (range 40-96). A total of 672 eyes (52.58%) were from females. The mean axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT), and mean keratometry were 23.46 ± 1.18 mm, 3.17 ± 0.40 mm, 4.54 ± 0.48 mm, and 43.42 ± 1.55D, respectively. Corneal astigmatism of ≥1D, >2D and >3D was found in 33.4%, 7.8% and 2.5% patients, respectively. Females were found to have shorter AL (p < 0.0001), shallower ACD (p < 0.0001) and steeper corneas (p < 0.0001). In both genders, AL, ACD and with the rule astigmatism showed a decreasing trend (p = 0.0001), while keratometry, the average cylinder, and against the rule astigmatism showed an increasing trend (p = 0.0001) with increasing age. Furthermore, in both genders, there was an increasing trend in ACD (p = 0.0001), and a decreasing trend in keratometry (p = 0.0001) and LT (p = 0.0001) with increasing AL.

Conclusions: This study provides useful reference data on ocular biometry for cataract surgeons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Female patients tend to have steeper corneas, shorter AL and shallower AC than males, and these differences are independent of age or AL.