Senior Resident, General Ophthalmology, Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry, India.
Glaucoma Services, Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2022 Jun;70(6):2153-2157. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_544_22.
To analyze the reasons for delay in cataract surgery in patients with advanced cataracts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was a prospective, cross-sectional, multicenter questionnaire study which included patients with mature cataract, nuclear sclerotic cataract grade IV, and cataracts with best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) <5/60, during the COVID-19 pandemic from December 2020 to April 2021. Reasons for delay in presentation to the hospital were analyzed.
One thousand four hundred seventy two patients were recruited with advanced cataracts. Absence of ophthalmic care nearby (44.2%), lack of awareness regarding elective surgeries (42.6%), lack of public transportation (37%), fear of contracting COVID-19 (23.4%), and waiting for outreach camps (20.4%) were found to be the reasons behind the delay in cataract surgery. 53.7% of the patients had worsening of defective vision and 55.3% of them had difficulty in carrying out activities of family living. 30.8% of the patients faced difficulty in commuting and 8.4% of the patients suffered a fall during this pandemic due to worsening of the visual acuity.
The lockdown imposed during the pandemic has created a significant backlog of patients who are progressing to advanced cataracts due to lack of ophthalmic care nearby, lack of awareness regarding elective surgeries, lack of public transportation, and no outreach camps. Proactive measures to deal with this backlog are of utmost need to prevent blindness due to cataract.
分析 COVID-19 大流行期间，白内障患者白内障手术延迟的原因。
这是一项前瞻性、横断面、多中心问卷调查研究，纳入 2020 年 12 月至 2021 年 4 月 COVID-19 大流行期间患有成熟白内障、核性硬化性白内障 IV 级和最佳矫正视力（BCVA）<5/60 的患者。分析了延迟到医院就诊的原因。
共招募 1472 名患有晚期白内障的患者。附近没有眼科护理（44.2%）、缺乏对择期手术的认识（42.6%）、缺乏公共交通工具（37%）、担心感染 COVID-19（23.4%）和等待外展营地（20.4%）是白内障手术延迟的原因。53.7%的患者视力缺陷恶化，55.3%的患者日常生活活动困难。30.8%的患者在通勤方面有困难，8.4%的患者因视力恶化在疫情期间摔倒。
大流行期间实施的封锁措施导致附近缺乏眼科护理、缺乏对择期手术的认识、缺乏公共交通工具以及没有外展营地，使进展为晚期白内障的患者大量积压。需要采取积极主动的措施来处理这一积压问题，以防止白内障导致的失明。
