The study design was a retrospective population-based survey. The data from all patients who underwent cataract surgery alone or in combined procedures in Poland between January 2010 and December 2015 were assessed from the national database of hospitalizations [9 ]. This database is maintained by NFZ, which compiles all data related to hospitalizations in public and private hospitals financed from public sources. The information includes medical data, identification number, date of birth, area code, and sex of patients. The medical data include the diagnoses coded according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, and all procedures performed coded using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) procedure codes and unique NFZ codes corresponding to certain hospital procedures.
For each individual patient, cataract surgery alone or as a combined procedure with corneal transplantation, glaucoma filtrating surgery, or vitrectomy was retrospectively identified. The ICD-9 code 13.4 was used to identify cataract extraction performed by phacoemulsification, with 13.2, 13.3 and 13.5 codes used to identify other types of cataract extractions. The following NFZ codes were used: B12, B13, B14, B15, B18, and B19 corresponding to cataract surgery alone; B04, B05, and B06 corresponding to cataract surgery combined with corneal transplantations; B11 corresponding to cataract surgery followed by glaucoma filtrating surgery; and B16 and B17 corresponding to cataract surgery combined with vitrectomy. The number of one-day procedures was also obtained from the NFZ data. The wait time data and the number of patients waiting for cataract surgery were obtained from the national registry [10 ].
For statistical analysis, the socio-demographic data of cataract patients including age, sex and place of residence were anonymously recorded. Data regarding the population of Poland were obtained from Central Statistical Office of Poland (Głowny Urzad Statystyczny) [11 ]. The incidence of cataract surgery was presented for each year separately and by age category matched with corresponding year population data in Poland. The statistical analysis also included the annual volume of cataract surgery, calculations of cataract extractions performed by phacoemulsification, calculations of proportions of one-day and combined procedures, and data regarding the number of cataract surgeries received by Polish patients in other European Union countries. The number of patients having cataract surgery in the second eye was collected, and the wait times were calculated. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to calculate the cumulative probability of second-eye cataract surgery during 2010–2015 with a log-rank test to compare the curves between periods. The demographic characteristics of patients are presented with the mean and standard deviation (SD). The study protocol was approved by the Polish Ministry of Health.
For each individual patient, cataract surgery alone or as a combined procedure with corneal transplantation, glaucoma filtrating surgery, or vitrectomy was retrospectively identified. The ICD-9 code 13.4 was used to identify cataract extraction performed by phacoemulsification, with 13.2, 13.3 and 13.5 codes used to identify other types of cataract extractions. The following NFZ codes were used: B12, B13, B14, B15, B18, and B19 corresponding to cataract surgery alone; B04, B05, and B06 corresponding to cataract surgery combined with corneal transplantations; B11 corresponding to cataract surgery followed by glaucoma filtrating surgery; and B16 and B17 corresponding to cataract surgery combined with vitrectomy. The number of one-day procedures was also obtained from the NFZ data. The wait time data and the number of patients waiting for cataract surgery were obtained from the national registry [10 ].
For statistical analysis, the socio-demographic data of cataract patients including age, sex and place of residence were anonymously recorded. Data regarding the population of Poland were obtained from Central Statistical Office of Poland (Głowny Urzad Statystyczny) [11 ]. The incidence of cataract surgery was presented for each year separately and by age category matched with corresponding year population data in Poland. The statistical analysis also included the annual volume of cataract surgery, calculations of cataract extractions performed by phacoemulsification, calculations of proportions of one-day and combined procedures, and data regarding the number of cataract surgeries received by Polish patients in other European Union countries. The number of patients having cataract surgery in the second eye was collected, and the wait times were calculated. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to calculate the cumulative probability of second-eye cataract surgery during 2010–2015 with a log-rank test to compare the curves between periods. The demographic characteristics of patients are presented with the mean and standard deviation (SD). The study protocol was approved by the Polish Ministry of Health.
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