Pager et al. should be commended for attempting the challenging global cataract surgery outcome study reported in the August issue of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. The inclusion of visual disability, quality of life and satisfaction measures is an important approach that, as the authors state, has rarely been made. Patient-centred measures are needed where impairment is not fully captured by clinical measures.

Global cataract surgery outcome studies including patient-centred measures should be encouraged, but only if they are performed with optimal methodology are they likely to yield useful conclusions.

Konrad Pesudovs BScOptom PhD and Douglas J Coster FRANZCO
Department of Ophthalmology, Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia