Cataract surgery has moved from the era of anti-blindness surgery to the era of refractive surgery, and vision-related quality of life has become an important prognostic indicator for cataract surgery. Since indicators like visual acuity are difficult to describe the visual quality of patients in a panoramic view, the evaluation of visual function based on subjective experience has received attention in clinical and scientific research. The visual functioning index(VF-14)is the first scale applied to assess the visual function in cataract surgery, and is widely used internationally so far. This review presented the research history of VF-14, scrutinized its clinical applicability, and summarized the research and application of VF-14 in the assessment of visual function, evaluation of surgical efficacy, and postoperative follow-up from three groups of people with cataract, refractive discomforts, and other common ophthalmic diseases, aiming to provide a reference for the clinical application of the VF-14.