ArticleJournal of cataract and refractive surgery2026
Geographical barriers to surgical treatment for cataract among California Medicare beneficiaries.
Article in Journal of cataract and refractive surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo examine geographic factors associated with the likelihood of receiving cataract surgery.
settingAdministrative claims data from 2017 California Medicare Database.
designCross-sectional.
methodsBeneficiaries were included if they were 65 years or older, had a valid postal code, active coverage with Medicare parts A and B, and cataract diagnosis defined by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinic Modification codes. Cataract surgery was defined using billing codes. The association between rural residence and distance and time traveled for cataract surgery was assessed using linear regression models. The odds of receiving cataract surgery were estimated using logistic regression models.
resultsAmong 445 164 beneficiaries with cataract, 127 314 (28.6%) reported rural residency. Rural residence was associated with increased travel time and distance for cataract surgery (+0.16 hours [95% CI 0.15-0.17]; +9.7 miles [95% CI 9.3-10.2]). For every additional 100 miles traveled, odds of cataract surgery decreased by 14% (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.86, 95% CI 0.84-0.87). Stratified analysis demonstrated that Black beneficiaries had the greatest reduced odds of cataract surgery per each 100 additional miles traveled (aOR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31-0.45), followed by Hispanic/Latino beneficiaries (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.63-0.72).
conclusionsBeneficiaries living in rural California had increased travel distance and time for cataract surgery. Black beneficiaries had the strongest association between increased travel distance and decreased odds of cataract surgery. These findings suggest possible disparities in surgical treatment for cataract among rural populations. Further studies are needed to better understand and address geographic disparities to eyecare.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.