Selected diseases and risk of cataract in women. A case-control study from Northern Italy

The relationship between cataract extraction in women and current body mass index, history of clinically relevant obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia was considered in a case-control study conducted in northern Italy. A total of 287 women who had cataract extraction and 1227 control subjects who were in the hospital for acute, nonneoplastic, nonophthalmologic, nonmetabolic, nongastroenterologic diseases were interviewed during their hospital stay. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were derived from multiple logistic regression equations, including terms for age, education, smoking status, current body mass index, and simultaneously the four diseases considered. Elevated current body mass index (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.8, for ≥30 versus 2), diabetes (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.4 to 3.4), hypertension (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.0), hyperlipidemia (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.7), and clinical history of obesity (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.2) were associated with an increased risk of cataract extraction. The OR in two separate strata of age (