Costs of a community-based glaucoma detection programme: analysis of the Philadelphia Glaucoma Detection and Treatment Project

2017 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura T Pizzi ◽  
Michael Waisbourd ◽  
Lisa Hark ◽  
Harjeet Sembhi ◽  
Paul Lee ◽  
...  

BackgroundGlaucoma is the foremost cause of irreversible blindness, and more than 50% of cases remain undiagnosed. Our objective was to report the costs of a glaucoma detection programme operationalised through Philadelphia community centres.MethodsThe analysis was performed using a healthcare system perspective in 2013 US dollars. Costs of examination and educational workshops were captured. Measures were total programme costs, cost/case of glaucoma detected and cost/case of any ocular disease detected (including glaucoma). Diagnoses are reported at the individual level (therefore representing a diagnosis made in one or both eyes). Staff time was captured during site visits to 15 of 43 sites and included time to deliver examinations and workshops, supervision, training and travel. Staff time was converted to costs by applying wage and fringe benefit costs from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Non-staff costs (equipment and mileage) were collected using study logs. Participants with previously diagnosed glaucoma were excluded.Results1649 participants were examined. Mean total per-participant examination time was 56 min (SD 4). Mean total examination cost/participant was $139. The cost/case of glaucoma newly identified (open-angle glaucoma, angle-closure glaucoma, glaucoma suspect, or primary angle closure) was $420 and cost/case for any ocular disease identified was $273.ConclusionGlaucoma examinations delivered through this programme provided significant health benefit to hard-to-reach communities. On a per-person basis, examinations were fairly low cost, though opportunities exist to improve efficiency. Findings serve as an important benchmark for planning future community-based glaucoma examination programmes.


1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-127
Author(s):  
I Paudyal ◽  
SS Thapa ◽  
G Paudyal ◽  
R Gurung ◽  
S Ruit

Background: Glaucoma is an important cause of blindness. Objective: To report the distribution of various types of glaucoma among patients presenting to a tertiary eye hospital in Nepal. Materials and methods: All new patients visiting the hospital between March 2007 and February 2008 underwent a comprehensive eye examination. Whenever glaucoma was suspected, patients were referred to fellowship-trained glaucoma specialists. Patients received a comprehensive glaucoma workup including applanation tonometry, stereoscopic examination of the optic nerve head performed by the glaucoma specialists, and a Humphrey visual field analysis (SITA 24 - 2). Results: 447 patients were newly diagnosed with glaucoma. 171 (38.2 %) patients had primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), while 143 (32 %) had primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG). The average age of presentation of patients with POAG was 65.78 ± 9.1 years, while the average age for PACG patients was 54.6 ±12.8 years. 30 (21 %) patients with PACG had acute angle-closure on presentation, while 113 (79 %) had chronic angle closure glaucoma. 107 (75 %) of these patients with PACG had visual acuity of less than 3/60 (20/ 400) in the worse eye at presentation. The most common form of secondary glaucoma was lens-induced (5.3 %), followed by neovascular (3.2 %) and uveitic glaucoma (3.2 %). Conclusion: The most common glaucoma seen in a tertiary referral eye hospital of Nepal is primary open-angle glaucoma. Among the angle-closure glaucoma, chronic angle-closure is the most common. Lens-induced glaucoma is still the commonest cause of secondary glaucoma. Keywords: glaucoma, open-angle, angle-closure, lens-induced DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nepjoph.v3i2.5263 Nepal J Ophthalmol 2011; 3(2): 123-127



2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212110143
Author(s):  
Itay E Gabbay ◽  
Mordechai Goldberg ◽  
Felicity Allen ◽  
Zhiheng Lin ◽  
Christine Morley ◽  
...  

Purpose: To report efficacy and safety measures of the XEN45 gel stent at 36 months in the UK National Health Service setting. Methods: Retrospective non-comparative audit of the records of patients who underwent XEN45 implantation between June 2015 and May 2017 was performed. Main outcome measures were intraocular pressure and number of antihypertensive medications used. Failure was defined as need for further surgery or stent removal. Success was defined as a 20% decrease in intraocular pressure without the need for additional glaucoma medications or a reduction in antihypertensive medications without an increase in baseline intraocular pressure. Needling rates and preoperative factors effect were assessed. Results: The cohort included 205 patients (205 eyes) with primary open angle glaucoma (84.4%), angle closure glaucoma (7.8%), or refractory glaucoma (7.8%), 62.9% had a stand-alone procedure and 37.1%, a combined phaco-XEN45 procedure. Mean intraocular pressure was 22.6 ± 7.0 mmHg at baseline compared to 14.7 ± 3.8 mmHg at 24 months and 14.0 ± 2.9 mmHg at 36 months ( p < 0.001 for both). Mean number of medications used was 2.6 ± 1.1 at baseline compared to 0.5 ± 0.9 and 0.6 ± 1.0, at 24- and 36-months, respectively ( p < 0.001 for both). The failure rate at 36 months was 25%. Needling was required in 36.6%. Evaluation of background factors yielded an increased failure rate in non-Caucasians compared to Caucasians (74% vs 21%, p < 0.001). Conclusion: XEN45 implantation is effective and safe at 36 months’ follow-up. Patients should be advised regarding the risk of failure and possible need for bleb revisions. Careful patient selection may be required.



2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Yeop Lee ◽  
Hun Lee ◽  
Ji Sung Lee ◽  
Sol Ah Han ◽  
Yoon Jeon Kim ◽  
...  

AbstractThis population-based, retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the association between glaucoma surgery and all-cause and cause-specific mortality among Korean elderly patients with glaucoma. A total of 16210 elderly patients (aged ≥ 60 years) diagnosed with glaucoma between 2003 and 2012 were included, and their insurance data were analyzed. The participants were categorized into a glaucoma surgery cohort (n = 487), which included individuals who had diagnostic codes for open angle glaucoma (OAG) or angle closure glaucoma (ACG) and codes for glaucoma surgery, and a glaucoma diagnosis cohort (n = 15,723), which included patients who had codes for OAG and ACG but not for glaucoma surgery. Sociodemographic factors, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, and ocular comorbidities were included as covariates. Cox regression models were used to assess the association between glaucoma surgery and mortality. The incidence of all-cause mortality was 34.76/1,000 person-years and 27.88/1,000 person-years in the glaucoma surgery and diagnosis groups, respectively. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause mortality associated with glaucoma surgery was 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05–1.62, P = 0.014). The adjusted HR for mortality due to a neurologic cause was significant (HR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.18–6.00, P = 0.018). The adjusted HRs for mortality due to cancer (HR = 2.03, 95% CI 1.07–3.83, P = 0.029) and accident or trauma (HR = 4.00, 95% CI 1.55–10.34, P = 0.004) associated with glaucoma surgery for ACG were significant as well. Glaucoma surgery was associated with an increase of mortality in elderly patients with glaucoma. In particular, the risk of mortality associated with glaucoma surgery due to neurologic causes was significant.



2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 700-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander T Nguyen ◽  
Jessica Maslin ◽  
Robert J Noecker

Purpose: To describe our clinical experience with the efficacy and safety of micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation as a treatment for glaucoma. Methods: In this retrospective case series, we reviewed the charts of 95 consecutive patients with various glaucoma subtypes who underwent micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation. Patients were offered micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation if they had perimetric glaucoma refractory to intraocular pressure–lowering topical medications and who were poor candidates for traditional filtering surgery. Eligible patients were treated with the Micropulse P3 device (IQ 810 Laser Systems; Iridex, Mountain View, CA, USA) at 2.0–2.5 W for a duration of 90 s per hemisphere at a 31.3% duty cycle. If a retreatment was needed, the power was increased to up to 3.0 W with other parameters remaining the same. Patients were considered successfully treated if their intraocular pressure was lowered by at least 20% compared to their baseline. The main outcome measure was post-operative intraocular pressure; secondary outcome measures included the number of adverse events and complications that occurred with treatment. Results: The glaucoma subtypes treated included primary open-angle glaucoma (n = 51), exfoliation glaucoma (n = 24), chronic angle-closure glaucoma (n = 15), and congenital/juvenile glaucoma (n = 5). The mean pre-operative intraocular pressure was 25.1 ± 5.3 mm Hg and the mean post-operative intraocular pressure at 12 months was 17.5 ± 5.1 mm Hg (p = 0.004). The mean number of intraocular pressure–lowering medications used preoperatively was 3.0 ± 1.1; the mean number of medications used at the 12-month post-operative visit was 1.4 ± 1.0 (p = 0.03). Success with one treatment was achieved in 73 (76.8%) of patients. With multiple treatments, all patients had significant intraocular pressure–lowering compared to baseline. The maximum number of treatments received by any single patient was 5. There were no instances of prolonged intraocular inflammation or long-term hypotony. Conclusion: Micropulse transscleral cyclophotocoagulation appears to be a safe and efficacious treatment for glaucoma. Given its improved safety profile compared to continuous-wave transscleral cyclophotocoagulation, it deserves consideration as a primary procedure.



2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael W. Beets ◽  
Aaron Beighle ◽  
Matteo Bottai ◽  
Laura Rooney ◽  
Fallon Tilley

Background:Policies to require afterschool programs (ASPs, 3 PM to 6 PM) to provide children a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exist. With few low-cost, easy-to-use measures of MVPA available to the general public, ASP providers are limited in their ability to track progress toward achieving this policy-goal. Pedometers may fill this gap, yet there are no step-count guidelines for ASPs linked to 30 minutes of MVPA.Methods:Steps and accelerometer estimates of MVPA were collected concurrently over multiple days on 245 children (8.2 years, 48% boys, BMI-percentile 68.2) attending 3 community-based ASPs. Random intercept logit models and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to identify a threshold of steps that corresponded with attaining 30 minutes of MVPA.Results:Children accumulated an average of 2876 steps (standard error [SE] 79) and 16.1 minutes (SE0.5) of MVPA over 111 minutes (SE1.3) during the ASP. A threshold of 4600 steps provided high specificity (0.967) and adequate sensitivity (0.646) for discriminating children who achieved the 30 minutes of MVPA; 93% of the children were correctly classified. The total area under the curve was 0.919. Children accumulating 4600 steps were 25times more likely to accumulate 30 minutes of MVPA.Conclusions:This step threshold will provide ASP leaders with an objective, low-cost, easy-to-use tool to monitor progress toward policy-related goals.





2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 29-31
Author(s):  
Artitaya Lophatananon ◽  
Graham Fulford ◽  
Susan Fulford ◽  
Dorothy Baxter-Smith ◽  
David Smith ◽  
...  


2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 1314-1323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela I. Chung ◽  
Elizabeth S. Cochran ◽  
Anna E. Kaiser ◽  
Carl M. Christensen ◽  
Battalgazi Yildirim ◽  
...  


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document