scholarly journals Practitioners’ opinions on the presentation of ocular pathology and ametropia in patients wearing ready-made reading spectacles

2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. C. Phillips ◽  
P. C. Clarke-Farr

This paper presents the findings of a study to determine optometrists’ opinions on the presentation of ocular pathology and ametropia in patients wearing ready-made reading spectacles. Ninety-seven optometrists completed a questionnaire pertaining to ametropia and ocular diseases among these patients. The questionnaire contained information regarding patient demographics, ocular pathology, ocular ametropia and the regulatory and public health aspects of ready-made readers.Ninety-five percent of respondents stated that they had seen patients with ready-made readers in their practice and 62% of these stated that they had found the presence of ocular pathology in these patients. The pathologies most commonly reported as seen by practitioners were dry eye (86% of practitioners), cataracts (80%) and diabetic retinopathy (54%). In addition, 39% of practitioners reported seeing patients with anisometropia. The majority of practitioners (71%) stated that they sold ready-made readers in their practice. Sixty-three percentof practitioners indicated that they would be prepared to offer a service whereby a reduced consultation fee and a pair of ready-made readers could be incorporated into an indigent “package”. An overwhelming 88% of the practitioners felt that the sale of ready-made readers should be more regulated and 74% of practitioners felt that the Professional Board for Optometry and Dispensing Opticians should be responsible for monitoring their sale. The research suggests that wearers of ready-made readers should be screened for ocular pathology, reduced visual acuity and amblyopia. Current regulations should be tightened and a public awareness education campaign should be initiated. The use of ready-made reading spectacles, in deference to an eye examination by an optometrist, appears to be largely as a result of the perceived costs of pri-vate practice combined with ignorance and apathy

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (05) ◽  
pp. 941-945
Author(s):  
Muhammad Adnan ◽  
Humera Zafar ◽  
Zahra Ali ◽  
Iffat Shabbir ◽  
Tayyaba Rahat

Background: Diabetic retinopathy is the optical complication that may leadto impaired vision. It is one of the most prevalent but preventable blinding disease. Its earlydiagnosis is prerequisite for the prevention of the visual loss and blindness associated withdiabetic complication. Objective: To estimate frequency of eye examination and various typesof retinopathy; and to find the association between diabetic retinopathy and its risk factors.Methods: The cross sectional study was conducted from Apr-Sep 2012 by PMRC ResearchCentre, FJMC, Lahore. Using non probability convenient sampling, eighty known type IIdiabetics were recruited. Venous blood was drawn for plasma glucose level (GOD-PAP) andglycosylated hemoglobin (Ion-Exchange Resin). Arterial blood pressure was measured usingdigital apparatus (Oscillometric method). Visual acuity was tested by Snellen’s chart and dilatedfundus examination was done to screen diabetic retinopathy. Data was analyzed using StatisticalPackage for Social Sciences (SPSS-20). Results: The study included 41% males and 59%females. Mean age was 51±9 (33-67) years. Diabetics who never screened for retinopathy were54.3%; and who examined during last year as per IDF guidelines were 25.7%. The frequencyof bilateral and unilateral NPDR was 22.5% and 5%, respectively. The occurrence of NPDR wasslightly higher in left eye, whereas PDR was more prevalent in right eye. The visual acuity wasequal or better than 6/12 in better eye of 80% study participants; and was 6/18-6/36 in better eyeof 20% participants. DR was significantly associated with longer duration of diabetes (p-0.010),poorly controlled diabetes (p-0.044) and hypertension (p-0.006). Odd ratios (95% CI) showedthat duration of diabetes ≥20 years, glycosylated hemoglobin ≥7.5 %, Systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm/Hg and diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm/Hg had 3-5 times higher risk of retinopathy. Conclusion:Majority of patients were neither knew nor referred for eye examination. Strict control of diabetesand hypertension may prevent or delay diabetic retinopathy. Policy Message: Annual eyeexamination must be prescribed by the physician/ diabetologist. An education and awarenessprogram for diabetics and community based survey is highly recommended.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (27) ◽  
pp. 3276-3281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Raczyńska ◽  
Katarzyna A. Lisowska ◽  
Krzysztof Pietruczuk ◽  
Joanna Borucka ◽  
Mateusz Ślizień ◽  
...  

Objective: The objective of the study was to compare cytokine levels in the vitreous body of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) undergoing posterior vitrectomy. Patients and methods: The study included 39 patients (39 eyes) undergoing pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). Patients were divided into three groups: patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) without aflibercept injection prior to the surgery, PDR patients administered aflibercept injection prior to the surgery, and patients without diabetes mellitus (control group). All patients underwent a comprehensive eye examination one day before and 3 weeks after the surgery, including measurements of: best-corrected visual acuity (BVCA) and intraocular pressure (IOP), slit-lamp examination and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SOCT). Concentrations of cytokines: IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p70, TNF, IL-10, IL-1β were measured in the vitreous body of patients with BD™ Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) Human Inflammatory Cytokines Kit. Results: PDR patients who received pretreatment with aflibercept injection showed significantly lower concentrations of IL-12p70, TNF, IL-10 and IL-1β in the vitreous body compared to the control group. Meanwhile, patients without prior aflibercept injection had a significantly higher concentration of IL-8. There was also a significant positive correlation between IOP before PPV and IL-8 concentration in both PDR patients’ groups. Conclusion: Findings of our study suggest an important role of IL-8 in the development of severe PDR. Aflibercept administration on the day before elective vitrectomy facilitated the surgery.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mok ◽  
Oliver Oi Yat Mui ◽  
Kwan Pui Tang ◽  
Chi-Fai NG ◽  
Sunny Hei Wong ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has led to increase in global awareness of related public health preventive measures. The public awareness can be reflected by online searching trends of major search engines, namely Google Trends. OBJECTIVE This study aims to interpret online searches of COVID-19 related public health preventive measures and to identify possible correlations between early search trends and progression of the pandemic. METHODS Search data from five queries “Mask”, “Hand Washing”, “Social Distancing”, “Hand Sanitizer”, and “Disinfectant” were extracted from Google Trends (GT) in the form of Relative Search Volumes (RSV). Global incidence data of COVID-19 was obtained from January 1st to June 30th 2020. Subsequently, the data were analyzed and illustrated in forms of a global temporal RSV trend diagram, a geographical RSV distribution chart, scatter graphs comparing regional RSV with average daily cases; and heat-maps comparing temporal trend of RSV with average daily cases. RESULTS Global temporal trend revealed multiple surges in RSV, which were temporally associated with certain COVID news events. Geographical distribution showed differences of query interests among regions. Although scatter graphs failed to illustrate strong correlations between regional RSV and average daily cases, the heat-maps were able to demonstrate patterns of early RSV peaks in countries with lower average daily cases, for queries “Mask”, “Hand Sanitizer”, and “Disinfectant”, upon incorporating with the temporal element into analysis. CONCLUSIONS Early public awareness of multiple preventive measures was observed in countries with lower daily average cases. Public health authorities may look into early public awareness as an effective measure for future disease control.


2020 ◽  
pp. 112067212092727
Author(s):  
Marko Lukic ◽  
Gwyn Williams ◽  
Zaid Shalchi ◽  
Praveen J Patel ◽  
Philip G Hykin ◽  
...  

Purpose To assess visual and optical coherence tomography–derived anatomical outcomes of treatment with intravitreal aflibercept (Eylea®) for diabetic macular oedema in patients switched from intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis®). Design Retrospective, cohort study. Participants Ninety eyes (of 67 patients) receiving intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy were included. Methods This is a retrospective, real-life, cohort study. Each patient had visual acuity measurements and optical coherence tomography scans performed at baseline and 12 months after the first injection of aflibercept was given. Main Outcome Measures We measured visual acuities in Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters, central foveal thickness and macular volume at baseline and at 12 months after the first aflibercept injection was given. Results Ninety switched eyes were included in this study. The mean (standard deviation) visual acuity was 63 (15.78) Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters. At baseline, the mean (standard deviation) central foveal thickness was 417.7 (158.4) μm and the mean macular volume was 9.96 (2.44) mm3. Mean change in visual acuity was +4 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters (p = 0.0053). The mean change in macular volume was −1.53 mm 3 in SW group (p = 0.21), while the change in central foveal thickness was −136.8 μm (p = 0.69). Conclusion There was a significant improvement in visual acuity and in anatomical outcomes in the switched group at 12 months after commencing treatment with aflibercept for diabetic macular oedema.


2021 ◽  
pp. 247412642097887
Author(s):  
Terry Lee ◽  
Cason B. Robbins ◽  
Akshay S. Thomas ◽  
Sharon Fekrat

Purpose: This work aims to investigate real-world treatment patterns and outcomes in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion in the antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) era. Methods: A retrospective, nonrandomized, comparative study was conducted on eyes diagnosed with branch retinal vein occlusion at a single tertiary center between 2009 and 2017. Medical history, treatment patterns, and visual acuity outcomes were examined. Subanalysis was performed for eyes that met the eligibility criteria for the BRAVO (Ranibizumab for the Treatment of Macular Edema Following Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion) trial. Results: A total of 315 eyes were included, of which 244 were treatment naive. In all eyes, the most common first treatment was the following: intravitreal bevacizumab (38.4%), aflibercept (15.1%), ranibizumab (8.1%), sectoral scatter laser (6.2%), and triamcinolone (3.1%). At 1 year, treatment-naive eyes had received an average of 2.43 anti-VEGF injections. During follow-up, treatment-naive eyes gained an average of 0.21 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study lines. Forty eyes that met BRAVO trial criteria received an average of 5.05 anti-VEGF injections in the first year and gained an average of 1.83 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study lines. Conclusions: This real-world cohort received fewer anti-VEGF injections at year 1 and experienced less improvement in visual acuity during the course of treatment than clinical trial participants. Trial-eligible patients received more injections and had greater visual gains than those who would not have been eligible for the trial.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja McIlfatrick ◽  
Paul Slater ◽  
Esther Beck ◽  
Olufikayo Bamidele ◽  
Sharon McCloskey ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Palliative care is recognised as a public health issue with the need for earlier integration in the wider healthcare system. However, research indicates that it continues to be accessed late in the course of an illness, public understanding of palliative care is limited, and common misconceptions prevail. Strategies to address this are needed in order to reduce barriers to palliative care delivery and improve access. Methods An explanatory sequential mixed methods study, comprising a cross-sectional survey and interviews was undertaken. Sociodemographic characteristics, public awareness, knowledge and perceptions of palliative care were examined and strategies to raise awareness and overcome barriers within a public health framework were identified. Survey data were analysed using SPSS v25 with factor analysis and non-parametric statistics and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results A total of 1201 participants completed the survey (58.3% female, mean age 61 years) and 25 took part in interviews. A fifth of participants (20.1%) had previously heard about palliative care and had an accurate understanding of the term. Being female, higher educated, married, and older, increased respondents’ levels of awareness. The three most commonly held misconceptions included: Palliative care is exclusively for people who are in the last 6 months of life (55.4% answered incorrectly); A goal of palliative care is to address any psychological issues brought up by serious illness (42.2% answered incorrectly); and a goal of palliative care is to improve a person’s ability to participate in daily activities (39.6% answered incorrectly). Talking about palliative and end of life care was advocated but societal taboos restricted this occurring with exposure limited to personal experience. Conclusions Current knowledge gaps and misconceptions derived from limited ad hoc personal experiences and fear of engaging in taboo conversations may deter people from accessing integrated palliative care services early in a disease trajectory. The results indicate the need for public education programmes that move beyond merely raising awareness but provide key messages within a public health approach, which may change attitudes to palliative care thus ultimately improving end of life outcomes.


Author(s):  
María Carmen Sánchez-González ◽  
Raquel García-Oliver ◽  
José-María Sánchez-González ◽  
María-José Bautista-Llamas ◽  
José-Jesús Jiménez-Rejano ◽  
...  

In our work, we determined the value of visual acuity (VA) with ETDRS charts (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study). The purpose of the study was to determine the measurement reliabilities, calculating the correlation coefficient interclass (ICC), the value of the error associated with the measure (SEM), and the minimal detectable change (MDC). Forty healthy subjects took part. The mean age was 23.5 ± 3.1 (19 to 26) years. Visual acuities were measured with ETDRS charts (96% ETDRS chart nº 2140) and (10% SLOAN Contrast Eye Test chart nº 2153). The measurements were made (at 4 m) under four conditions: Firstly, photopic conditions with high contrast (HC) and low contrast (LC) and after 15 min of visual rest, mesopic conditions with high and low contrast. Under photopic conditions and high contrast, the ICC = 0.866 and decreased to 0.580 when the luminosity and contrast decreased. The % MDC in the four conditions was always less than 10%. It was minor under photopic conditions and HC (5.83) and maximum in mesopic conditions and LC (9.70). Our results conclude a high reliability of the ETDRS test, which is higher in photopic and high contrast conditions and lower when the luminosity and contrast decreases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Uk Baek ◽  
Min Seon Park ◽  
Bum-Joo Cho ◽  
In Won Park ◽  
Soonil Kwon

AbstractUncontrolled diabetes has been associated with progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in several studies. Therefore, we aimed to investigate systemic and ophthalmic factors related to worsening of DR even after completion of panretinal photocoagulation (PRP). We retrospectively reviewed DR patients who had completed PRP in at least one eye with a 3-year follow-up. A total of 243 eyes of 243 subjects (mean age 52.6 ± 11.6 years) were enrolled. Among them, 52 patients (21.4%) showed progression of DR after PRP (progression group), and the other 191 (78.6%) patients had stable DR (non-progression group). The progression group had higher proportion of proliferative DR (P = 0.019); lower baseline visual acuity (P < 0.001); and higher platelet count (P = 0.048), hemoglobin (P = 0.044), and hematocrit, (P = 0.042) than the non-progression group. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis for progression of DR, baseline visual acuity (HR: 0.053, P < 0.001) and platelet count (HR: 1.215, P = 0.031) were identified as risk factors for progression. Consequently, we propose that patients with low visual acuity or high platelet count are more likely to have progressive DR despite PRP and require careful observation. Also, the evaluation of hemorheological factors including platelet counts before PRP can be considered useful in predicting the prognosis of DR.


Author(s):  
D.V. Chernykh ◽  

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of bimanual surgery with anti-VEGF preparation of patients with severe forms of PDR complicated by traction retinal detachment, with intraoperative use of 3D visualization. Material and methods. Operated on 18 patients with a diagnosis of PDR complicated by traction retinal detachment. Of these, there were 7 patients with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes. There were 5 men and 13 women. The average age was 58 + -2 years. All patients underwent a three-port vitrectomy, using an additional light source, with preoperative preparation with anti-VEGF drugs, using bimanual technique and 3D visualization, using air tamponade. Results and its discussion. As a result of the study, it was found that the visual acuity before the treatment was 0.03 [0.01; 0.1], and 4-6 months after the surgical treatment, 0.3 [0.15; 0.5]. The performed statistical analysis made it possible to establish a statistically significant increase in visual acuity 4-6 months after the treatment. (p = 0.001) Achieved complete anatomical retinal fit. With increased visual acuity. There were 5 complications in the postoperative period. Recurrent hemophthalmos was diagnosed in 3 people, which required repeated surgical intervention. In 2 patients in the postoperative period, DMO developed, which required IVI biodegradable dexamethasone implant. Conclusion. Bimanual, surgical treatment of traction retinal detachments, in severe forms of PDLP, with preoperative preparation with anti-VEGF drugs, and the use of the Ngenuity ALCON 3D imaging system, is one of the effective methods of treatment in this group of patients, and is aimed at reducing both intra and postoperative complications. Key words: рroliferative diabetic retinopathy, vitrectomy, 3D imaging, bimanual surgery, anti-VEGF drugs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document