Chiang Y P, Wang F, Javitt J C
Department of Ophthalmology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
Public Health Rep. 1995 Mar-Apr;110(2):147-53.
Despite growth in the use of ophthalmologic care in the last decade, little is known about the use of eye care services and patterns of physician contact across population subgroups. As the U.S. population grows older, such information is crucial in planning strategies for treatment and prevention of eye disorders as well as in identifying potential problems in access and use of eye care. Using the 1990 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data, a descriptive statistical analysis was employed to profile the possible variations in eye care-related office visits to ophthalmologists and other physicians across demographic groups. In 1990, a total of 49.3 million visits that were related primarily to an ocular disorder were made to physicians' offices; 43.8 million (89 percent) of these were visits to ophthalmologists and 5.4 million (11 percent) to other physicians. Use of ambulatory eye care varied across demographic subgroups. Those ages 65 or older had a substantially higher rate of eye care related outpatient visits per 1,000 persons per year compared with the rest of the population (743.6 per 1,000 versus 118.5 per 1,000, P < 0.001). Women had a higher rate than men (216.0 per 1,000 versus 177.0 per 1,000, 0.01; P < 0.05). Blacks had a substantially lower rate than whites (143.2 per 1,000 versus 194.6 per 1,000, 0.001; P < 0.01). Those who visited ophthalmologists' offices also differed from those who visited other physicians' offices in terms of their age, sex, race, health insurance status, and disease characteristics. It is important to devote increased attention to the prevention of vision loss among the population groups that have a higher risk of developing eye diseases and that also may have underused or have less access to care. Results from this analysis, in combination with data on the prevalence of ocular disorders for different population groups, provide useful information to identify these high-risk groups.
尽管在过去十年中眼科护理的使用有所增加，但对于不同人群亚组的眼部护理服务使用情况和与医生接触的模式却知之甚少。随着美国人口老龄化，此类信息对于规划眼部疾病的治疗和预防策略以及识别眼部护理获取和使用方面的潜在问题至关重要。利用1990年国家门诊医疗护理调查数据，进行了描述性统计分析，以描绘不同人口群体在与眼科护理相关的看眼科医生和其他医生门诊方面可能存在的差异。1990年，总共4930万次主要与眼部疾病相关的就诊是在医生办公室进行的；其中4380万次（89%）是看眼科医生，540万次（11%）是看其他医生。门诊眼部护理的使用在不同人口亚组中有所不同。65岁及以上的人群每年每1000人进行的与眼部护理相关的门诊就诊率明显高于其他人群（每1000人中有743.6次，而其他人群为每1000人中有118.5次，P<0.001）。女性的就诊率高于男性（每1000人中有216.0次，而男性为每1000人中有177.0次，P<0.05）。黑人的就诊率明显低于白人（每1000人中有143.2次，而白人每1000人中有194.6次，P<0.０1）。看眼科医生办公室的人群与看其他医生办公室的人群在年龄、性别、种族、健康保险状况和疾病特征方面也存在差异。对于那些患眼疾风险较高且可能未充分利用或难以获得护理的人群，加大对预防视力丧失的关注非常重要。该分析结果与不同人群眼部疾病患病率数据相结合，为识别这些高危人群提供了有用信息。
