Chheda Kousanee, Wu Rong, Zaback Tosha, Brinks Mitchell V
UConn Health, Farmington, Connecticut, United States.
Biostatistics Center, Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering (CCI), UConn Health, Farmington, Connecticut.
Cogent Med. 2019;6(1). doi: 10.1080/2331205X.2019.1650693. Epub 2019 Aug 20.
Barriers to health care present complex challenges to improving eye health in the U.S., yet few studies have quantitatively measured the impact of these barriers. This study investigated the time elapsed since a person's most recent eye examination (TLEE) as a measure of barriers to eye care.
Participants (N=1699) from mobile clinic vision health screenings completed demographic and subjective visual function questionnaires, and then underwent comprehensive eye exams. Associations between demographics, subjective visual function, and visual acuity were analyzed with respect to TLEE.
Many Hispanic (34.9%) and uninsured (28.6%) participants had no previous eye exam. Although most Caucasians had a previous eye exam, 40.2% did not have an exam in the previous four years. The majority of participants with diabetes were non-compliant with recommendations of annual eye examinations.
These results describe barriers that are specific to subpopulations, providing useful information for efforts to improve eye care access.
医疗保健障碍给美国改善眼部健康带来了复杂挑战，但很少有研究对这些障碍的影响进行定量测量。本研究调查了自一个人最近一次眼部检查以来所经过的时间（TLEE），以此作为眼部护理障碍的一项指标。
来自流动诊所视力健康筛查的参与者（N = 1699）完成了人口统计学和主观视觉功能问卷，然后接受了全面的眼部检查。就TLEE分析了人口统计学、主观视觉功能和视力之间的关联。
许多西班牙裔（34.9%）和未参保者（28.6%）此前未进行过眼部检查。尽管大多数白种人此前进行过眼部检查，但40.2%的人在过去四年内未进行过检查。大多数糖尿病患者未遵循每年进行眼部检查的建议。
这些结果描述了特定亚人群所面临的障碍，为改善眼部护理可及性的努力提供了有用信息。
