Cargando…

The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits

PURPOSE: To measure the COVID-19 pandemic impact on missed ophthalmology clinic visits and the influence of patient and eye disease characteristics on likelihood of missing clinic visits before and during the pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study analyzing eye clinic pa...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Brant, Arthur R, Pershing, Suzann, Hess, Olivia, Rooney, David, Goldberg, Jeffrey, Tabin, Geoffrey, Wang, Sophia Y
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8667753/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34916776
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S341739
_version_ 1784614432712687616
author Brant, Arthur R
Pershing, Suzann
Hess, Olivia
Rooney, David
Goldberg, Jeffrey
Tabin, Geoffrey
Wang, Sophia Y
author_facet Brant, Arthur R
Pershing, Suzann
Hess, Olivia
Rooney, David
Goldberg, Jeffrey
Tabin, Geoffrey
Wang, Sophia Y
author_sort Brant, Arthur R
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: To measure the COVID-19 pandemic impact on missed ophthalmology clinic visits and the influence of patient and eye disease characteristics on likelihood of missing clinic visits before and during the pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study analyzing eye clinic patients at a large tertiary care academic institution. We identified patients scheduled for eye care during pre-COVID-19 (January 1–February 29, 2020) and early COVID-19 (March 16–May 31, 2020) time periods. Missed appointment frequency and characteristics were evaluated during each time period. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to examine adjusted odds of having at least one missed appointment during a given time period. Covariates included age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, preferred language (non-English vs English), insurance, distance from clinic, and diagnosis. RESULTS: Overall, 82.0% (n = 11,998) of pre-COVID-19 patients completed all scheduled visits, compared to only 59.3% (n = 9020) during COVID-19. Missed visits increased dramatically in late March 2020, then improved week by week through the end of May 2020. General ophthalmology/cataract and strabismus clinics had the highest rates of missed clinic visits during the COVID-19 period; neuro-ophthalmology, retina, cornea, oculoplastics and glaucoma had the lowest. Females, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, ages 50+, and married patients had higher adjusted odds of missing clinic visits, both pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19. Asian, elderly, and cataract patients had the highest adjusted odds of missing clinic visits during COVID-19 and had significant increases in odds compared to pre-COVID-19. Non-married, diabetic macular edema, and wet age-related macular degeneration patients had the lowest adjusted odds of missed visits during COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Missed clinic visits increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among elderly and nonwhite patients. These findings reflect differences in eye care delivery during the pandemic, and they indicate opportunities to target barriers to care, even during non-pandemic eras.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8667753
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Dove
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-86677532021-12-15 The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits Brant, Arthur R Pershing, Suzann Hess, Olivia Rooney, David Goldberg, Jeffrey Tabin, Geoffrey Wang, Sophia Y Clin Ophthalmol Original Research PURPOSE: To measure the COVID-19 pandemic impact on missed ophthalmology clinic visits and the influence of patient and eye disease characteristics on likelihood of missing clinic visits before and during the pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study analyzing eye clinic patients at a large tertiary care academic institution. We identified patients scheduled for eye care during pre-COVID-19 (January 1–February 29, 2020) and early COVID-19 (March 16–May 31, 2020) time periods. Missed appointment frequency and characteristics were evaluated during each time period. Multivariable logistic regression models were developed to examine adjusted odds of having at least one missed appointment during a given time period. Covariates included age, sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, preferred language (non-English vs English), insurance, distance from clinic, and diagnosis. RESULTS: Overall, 82.0% (n = 11,998) of pre-COVID-19 patients completed all scheduled visits, compared to only 59.3% (n = 9020) during COVID-19. Missed visits increased dramatically in late March 2020, then improved week by week through the end of May 2020. General ophthalmology/cataract and strabismus clinics had the highest rates of missed clinic visits during the COVID-19 period; neuro-ophthalmology, retina, cornea, oculoplastics and glaucoma had the lowest. Females, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, ages 50+, and married patients had higher adjusted odds of missing clinic visits, both pre-COVID-19 and during COVID-19. Asian, elderly, and cataract patients had the highest adjusted odds of missing clinic visits during COVID-19 and had significant increases in odds compared to pre-COVID-19. Non-married, diabetic macular edema, and wet age-related macular degeneration patients had the lowest adjusted odds of missed visits during COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Missed clinic visits increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among elderly and nonwhite patients. These findings reflect differences in eye care delivery during the pandemic, and they indicate opportunities to target barriers to care, even during non-pandemic eras. Dove 2021-12-08 /pmc/articles/PMC8667753/ /pubmed/34916776 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S341739 Text en © 2021 Brant et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) ). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php).
spellingShingle Original Research
Brant, Arthur R
Pershing, Suzann
Hess, Olivia
Rooney, David
Goldberg, Jeffrey
Tabin, Geoffrey
Wang, Sophia Y
The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits
title The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits
title_full The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits
title_fullStr The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits
title_short The Impact of COVID-19 on Missed Ophthalmology Clinic Visits
title_sort impact of covid-19 on missed ophthalmology clinic visits
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8667753/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34916776
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S341739
work_keys_str_mv AT brantarthurr theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT pershingsuzann theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT hessolivia theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT rooneydavid theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT goldbergjeffrey theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT tabingeoffrey theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT wangsophiay theimpactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT brantarthurr impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT pershingsuzann impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT hessolivia impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT rooneydavid impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT goldbergjeffrey impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT tabingeoffrey impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits
AT wangsophiay impactofcovid19onmissedophthalmologyclinicvisits