Light discomfort thresholds in patients with senile cataract versus pseudophakic subjects

Purpose: To compare light discomfort thresholds in patients with senile cataract versus pseudophakic subjects. Methods: In this cross-sectional, multicenter, controlled study light discomfort thresholds were measured in both eyes of patients with senile cataract and in sex- and age-matched pseudophakic subjects using the Lumiz 100 device (Essilor International, Paris, France) under three different lighting conditions: continuous warm, continuous cold and flashing warm. For continuous increase, light starts at 25 lx for 5 s and increases every second by 20%; for discontinuous increases, light starts at 10 lx for 5 s followed by increases to 25 lx for half a second and then decreases back to 10 lx for 2 s, before a 44% increase from the previous flash using warm light. Age, gender, pupil diameter, self-reported light sensitivity, iris color, eyeglass use, visual acuity, lens status and cataract grade were analyzed and correlated with light discomfort thresholds. Results: A total of 48 participants (28 men, 20 women; mean age 72.92 ± 9.05 years) were included. Patients with senile cataract exhibited statistically significant lower discomfort thresholds for all measurements compared to pseudophakic subjects (respectively, 3.39 ± 0.66 log10[lux] vs. 3.81 ± 0.46 [p = 0.014] for continuous warm; 3.44 ± 0.64 vs. 3.82 ± 0.42 [p = 0.025] for continuous cold; 3.14 ± 0.59 vs. 3.81 ± 0.31 [p < 0.001] for flashing warm). Apart for lens status, no other variables influenced light discomfort thresholds. Conclusion: The Lumiz 100 enabled the evaluation of light discomfort thresholds in patients with different lens status, highlighting a higher light sensitivity in patients with senile cataract compared to pseudophakic subjects under all lighting conditions.