Purpose: To describe the cost for society services caused by the patients awaiting surgery for one year in Gothenburg, 1997.
Methods: From a waiting list of 1458 patients awaiting cataract surgery 250 randomly selected patients were interviewed. The structured questions focused on community services, such as home help, subsidised travel by taxi, medical treatment at home, visual aids, hospital stay and medical consultation, caused by the cataract symptoms.
Results: The total cost for the community for the 1458 patients awaiting surgery was an estimated SEK 5,200,000. Hospital stay and home help were the largest parts of this community expense.
Conclusion: The direct costs for society for one year caused by 1458 patients awaiting cataract surgery with a mean waiting time of 9.8 months was approximately the same as operating 800 patients (eyes).