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Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Jan;263(1):147-156.
doi: 10.1007/s00417-024-06592-w. Epub 2024 Aug 23.

Association between vitamin D level and cataract: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Zhenzhen Jue  1 , Ziming Xu  1 , Vincent L Yuen  1 , Odessa Dik San Chan  1 , Jason C Yam  2   3   4   5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Association between vitamin D level and cataract: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Zhenzhen Jue et al. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: The association between serum vitamin D level and cataract remains controversial. This study aims to evaluate the association between vitamin D level and cataract.

Methods: In this study, articles in the PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases were searched up to 30 August 2023 and 626 articles were screened. Four studies involving a total of 10,928 subjects with cataract and 10,117 control subjects met the inclusion criteria.

Results: Decreased serum vitamin D level was associated with higher incidence of cataract (P = 0.047; MD: -4.87; 95%CI: [-9.67, -0.07]). In the subgroup analysis by sex, a significant association was found between serum vitamin D level and cataract in both male (P = 0.01, MD: -2.15,95%CI: [-3.83, -0.46]) and female (P < 0.01; MD: -6.67,95%CI: [-8.20, -5.14]).In the subgroup analysis by the types of cataract, significant association was found between serum vitamin D level and nuclear (P < 0.01; MD: -10.48; 95%CI: [-12.72, -8.24]) and posterior subcapsular cataract (P = 0.02; MD: -6.05; 95%CI: [-11.30, -0.80]) but not in cortical cataract (P = 0.14; MD: -6.74; 95%CI: [-15.70, 2.22]).

Conclusion: This meta-analysis revealed potential association between serum vitamin D level and cataract, more significant in female, and the subtypes of nuclear and posterior subcapsular cataract.

Keywords: Cataract; Serum vitamin D level; Types of cataract; Vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical approval: Regarding this systematic review and meta-analysis, no approval was required from an authorized Medical Ethics Committee since this is a review of priorly published studies with no patient identifying information. Informed consent: All authors also ascertain that informed consent was confirmed to had been obtained from all individual participants involved in the included studies. Conflict of Interest: All authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA Flow Diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of the mean differences in the serum 25(OH)D level between cataract and control groups
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of subgroup analysis of the associations between serum 25(OH)D level and cataract in different gender groups
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of subgroup analysis of the association between serum 25(OH)D level and different types of cataract
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Risk of bias of all included studies
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Forest plot of sensitivity analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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