Visual Impairment from Uncorrected Refractive Error among Participants in a Novel Program to Improve Eye Care Access among Low-Income Adults in Michigan.

PURPOSE: To assess the rate of visual impairment (VI) from uncorrected refractive error (URE) and associations with demographic and socioeconomic factors among low-income patients presenting to the Michigan Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and Eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) program. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: Adults ≥ 18 years without acute ocular symptoms. METHODS: MI-SIGHT program participants received a telemedicine-based eye disease screening and ordered glasses through an online optical store. Participants were categorized based on refractive error (RE) status: VI from URE (presenting visual acuity [PVA], ≤ 20/50; best-corrected visual acuity [BCVA], ≥ 20/40), URE without VI (PVA, ≥ 20/40; ≥ 2-line improvement to BCVA), and no or adequately corrected RE (PVA, ≥ 20/40; < 2-line improvement to BCVA). Patient demographics, self-reported visual function, and satisfaction with glasses obtained through the program were compared among groups using analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis, chi-square, and Fisher exact testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PVA, BCVA, and presence of VI (defined as PVA ≤ 20/50). RESULTS: Of 1171 participants enrolled in the MI-SIGHT program during the first year, average age was 55.1 years (SD = 14.5), 37.7% were male, 54.1% identified as Black, and 1166 (99.6%) had both PVA and BCVA measured. VI was observed in 120 participants (10.3%); 96 had VI from URE (8.2%), 168 participants (14.4%) had URE without VI, and 878 (75.3%) had no or adequately corrected RE. A smaller percentage of participants with VI resulting from URE reported having a college degree, and a larger percentage reported income < $10 000 compared with participants with no or adequately corrected RE (3.2% vs. 14.2% [P = 0.02]; 45.5% vs. 21.6% [P < 0.0001], respectively). Visual function was lowest among participants with VI from URE, followed by those with URE without VI, and then those with no or adequately corrected RE (9-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire composite score, 67.3 ± 19.6 vs. 77.0 ± 14.4 vs. 82.2 ± 13.3, respectively; P < 0.0001). In total, 71.2% (n = 830) ordered glasses for an average cost of $36.80 ± $32.60; 97.7% were satisfied with their glasses. CONCLUSIONS: URE was the main cause of VI at 2 clinics serving low-income communities and was associated with reduced vision-related quality of life. An online optical store with lower prices made eyeglasses accessible to low-income patients. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Relationship between Unstable Housing, Food Insecurity, and Vision Status in the MI-SIGHT Community Eye Disease Screening Program.

PURPOSE: Assess rate of visual impairment (VI) from uncorrected refractive error (URE) and associations with demographic and socioeconomic factors among low-income patients presenting to the Michigan Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and Eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) program. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: Adults ≥ 18 years without acute ocular symptoms. METHODS: MI-SIGHT program participants received a telemedicine-based eye disease screening and ordered glasses through an online optical shop. Participants were categorized based on refractive error (RE) status: VI from URE (presenting visual acuity [PVA] ≤ 20/50, best corrected visual acuity [BCVA] ≥ 20/40), URE without VI (PVA ≥ 20/40, had ≥ 2 lines of improvement to BCVA), and no or adequately corrected RE (PVA ≥ 20/40, < 2 line improvement to BCVA). Patient demographics, self-reported visual function, and satisfaction with glasses obtained through the program were compared between groups using analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis, chi-square, and Fisher exact testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: PVA, BCVA, and presence of VI (defined as PVA ≤ 20/50). RESULTS: Of 1171 participants enrolled in the MI-SIGHT program during the first year, the average age was 55.1 years (standard deviation = 14.5), 37.7% were male, 54.1% identified as Black, and 1166 (99.6%) had both PVA and BCVA measured. VI was observed in 120 (10.3%); 96 had VI from URE (8.2%), 168 (14.4%) had URE without VI, and 878 (75.3%) had no or adequately corrected RE. A smaller percentage of participants with VI from URE reported having a college degree and a larger percentage reported income < $10 000 compared to participants with no or adequately corrected RE (3.2% versus 14.2%, P = 0.02; 45.5% versus 21.6%, respectively, P < 0.0001. Visual function was lowest among participants with VI from URE, followed by those with URE without VI, and then those with no or adequately corrected RE (VFQ9 composite score 67.3 ± 19.6 versus 77.0 ± 14.4 versus 82.2 ± 13.3, respectively; P < 0.0001). 71.2% (n = 830) ordered glasses for an average cost of $36.80 ± $32.60; 97.7% were satisfied with their glasses. CONCLUSIONS: URE was the main cause of VI at 2 clinics serving low-income communities and was associated with reduced vision-related quality of life. An online optical shop with lower prices made eyeglasses accessible to low-income patients. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Seeing Red: Associations between Historical Redlining and Present-Day Visual Impairment and Blindness.

PURPOSE: Redlining was a discriminatory housing policy in the United States that began in 1933 and denoted neighborhoods with high proportions of Black individuals as "undesirable" and a high risk for lending, which therefore excluded people from obtaining traditional insured mortgages to purchase a home. Simultaneously, realtors discouraged Black individuals from purchasing homes in predominantly non-Black neighborhoods. This resulted in decreased home ownership and wealth accumulation among Black individuals and neighborhoods with high proportions of Black individuals. This study investigated rates of visual impairment and blindness (VIB) in neighborhoods that at one time were graded for redlining. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of American Community Survey data and historical grades for redlining. PARTICIPANTS: United States census tracts (CTs) from 2010 with historical grades for redlining. METHODS: One-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test, and logistic regression modeling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome was CT percentage of residents reporting VIB and the association with historical grades for redlining. Grades were converted to numeric values (1 to 4, with higher values indicating worse grade) and aggregated over a CT based on the distribution of grades within to obtain a redlining score. Logistic regression was used to model the effect of redlining on the probability of having VIB. RESULTS: Eleven thousand six hundred sixty-eight CTs were analyzed. Logistic regression found that a 1-unit increase in average redlining score was associated with a 13.4% increased odds of VIB after controlling for CT measures of age, sex, people of color (any non-White race), state, and population size (odds ratio [OR], 1.134; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.131-1.138; P < 0.001). Similar results were observed for an additional model that adjusted for the estimated percentage of Black residents within a CT (OR, 1.180; 95% CI, 1.177-1.183; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Historical government-sanctioned residential segregation through redlining was found to be associated with higher proportions of people living with VIB in these neighborhoods today. Understanding how neighborhood segregation impacts eye health is important for planning improved mechanisms of eye care delivery to mitigate health disparities. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.

Social Deprivation and the Risk of Screening Positive for Glaucoma in the MI-SIGHT Telemedicine-Based Glaucoma Detection Program.

PURPOSE: To assess whether increased poverty is associated with increased risk of screening positive for glaucoma or suspected glaucoma in a large public screening and intervention program. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study from 2020 to 2022. PARTICIPANTS: Adults ≥ 18 years old without acute ocular symptoms. METHODS: Michigan Screening and Intervention for Glaucoma and eye Health through Telemedicine (MI-SIGHT) program participants' sociodemographic characteristics and area deprivation index (ADI) values were summarized from the clinical sites, which included a free clinic and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). The ADI, a composite measure of neighborhood deprivation (range, 1-10; 10 is worst deprivation), was assigned on the basis of the participants' addresses. Group comparisons were performed via 2-sample t tests or Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney tests for continuous measures and chi-square tests or Fisher exact tests with Monte Carlo simulation for categorical measures; Holm adjustment was used for multiple comparisons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Risk factors for screening positive for glaucoma or suspected glaucoma. RESULTS: Of the 1171 enrolled participants, 1165 (99.5%) completed the screening: 34% at the free clinic and 66% at the FQHC. Participants were on average aged 55.1 ± 14.5 years, 62% were women, 54% self-reported as Black/African-American, 34% White, 10% Hispanic or Latino, and 70% earned < $30 000 annually. The mean ADI was 7.2 ± 3.1. The FQHC had higher (worse) ADI than the free clinic (free clinic: 4.5 ± 2.9, FQHC: 8.5 ± 2.1, P < 0.0001). One-quarter (24%) of participants screened positive for glaucoma or suspected glaucoma. Screening positive for glaucoma or suspected glaucoma was associated with being older (P = 0.01), identifying as Black/African-American (P = 0.0001), having an established eyecare clinician (P = 0.0005), and not driving a personal vehicle to the appointment (P = 0.001), which is a proxy for increased poverty. Participants who screened positive had worse ADI than those who screened negative (7.7 ± 2.8 vs. 7.0 ± 3.2, P = 0.002). A larger percentage of White participants screened positive at the FQHC compared with White participants at the free clinic (21.3% vs. 12.3%, P = 0.01). FQHC White participants had worse ADI than free clinic White participants (7.5 ± 2.5 vs. 3.7 ± 2.7, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Personal poverty, assessed as not driving a personal vehicle to the appointment, and neighborhood-level poverty were both associated with increased rates of screening positive for glaucoma or suspected glaucoma. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

The Support, Educate, Empower personalized glaucoma coaching trial design.

BACKGROUND: Glaucoma is a chronic disease that affects 3 million Americans. Glaucoma is most often asymptomatic until very late in its course when treatment is more difficult and extensive peripheral vision loss has already occurred. Taking daily medications can mitigate this vision loss, but at least half of people with glaucoma do not take their prescribed medications regularly. The purpose of this study is to improve glaucoma medication adherence among those with medically treated glaucoma and poor self-reported adherence using the Support, Educate, Empower personalized coaching program. METHODS/DESIGN: This study is a two-site randomized controlled trial enrolling 230 participants with poor self-reported glaucoma medication adherence. The trial has two arms, an intervention arm and a control arm. Participants in the intervention arm receive personalized glaucoma education and motivational interviewing-based coaching over 6 months from a trained non-physician interventionist for three in-person sessions with between visit phone calls for check-ins where current adherence level is reported to participants. Participants also can elect to have visual, audio, text or automated phone call medication dose reminders. Participants in the control arm continue usual care with their physician and receive non-personalized glaucoma educational materials via mail in parallel to the three in-person coaching sessions to control for glaucoma knowledge content. All participants receive a medication adherence monitor. The primary outcome is the proportion of prescribed doses taken on schedule during the 6-month period. The secondary outcome is glaucoma related distress. The exploratory outcome is intraocular pressure. DISCUSSION: The personalized education and motivational-interviewing-based intervention that we are testing is comprehensive in that it addresses the wide range of barriers to adherence that people with glaucoma encounter. Leveraging a custom-built web-based application to generate the personalized content and the motivational-interviewing-based prompts to guide the coaching sessions will make this program both replicable and scalable and can be integrated into clinical care utilizing trained non-physician providers. Although this type of self-management support is not currently reimbursed for glaucoma as it is for diabetes, this trial could help shape future policy change should the intervention be found effective.

Measuring impact of a quality improvement initiative on glaucoma clinic flow using an automated real-time locating system.

BACKGROUND: Lean methodology helps maximize value by reducing waste, first by defining what value and waste are in a system. In ophthalmology clinics, value is determined by the number of patients flowing through the clinic for a given time. We aimed to increase value using a lean-methodology guided policy change, then assessed its impact on clinic flow using an automated radiofrequency identification (RFID) based real-time locating system (RTLS). METHODS: A total of 6813 clinical visits occurred at a single academic institution's outpatient glaucoma clinic between January 5, 2018 to July 3, 2018. Over that period, 1589 patients comprising 1972 (29%) of visits were enrolled, with 1031 clinical visits occurring before and 941 visits after a policy change. The original policy was to refract all patients that improved with pinhole testing. The policy change was not to refract patients with a visual acuity ≥20/30 unless a specific request was made by the patient. Pre-post analysis of an automated time-motion study was conducted for the data collected 3 months before and 3 months after the policy change occurred on March 30, 2018. Changes to process and wait times were summarized using descriptive statistics and fitted to linear mixed regression models adjusting for appointment type, clinic volume, and daily clinic trends. RESULTS: One thousand nine hundred twenty-three visits with 1588 patients were included in the analysis. Mean [SD] age was 65.9 [14.7] years and 892 [56.2%] were women. After the policy change, technician process time decreased by 2.9 min (p < 0.0001) while daily clinical patient volume increased from 51.9 ± 16.8 patients to 58.4 ± 17.4 patients (p < 0.038). No significant difference was found in total wait time (p = 0.18) or total visit time (p = 0.83). CONCLUSIONS: Real-time locating systems are effective at capturing clinical flow data and assessing clinical practice change initiatives. The refraction policy change was associated with reduced technician process time and overall the clinic was able to care for 7 more patients per day without significantly increasing patient wait time.

The Utility of Routine Fundus Photography Screening for Posterior Segment Disease: A Stepped-wedge, Cluster-randomized Trial in South India.

PURPOSE: To assess whether routine fundus photography (RFP) to screen for posterior segment disease at community eye clinics (vision centers [VCs]) in India increases referral to centralized ophthalmolic care. DESIGN: Stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 40 to 75 years and those aged 20 to 40 years with a known history of hypertension or diabetes mellitus presenting to 4 technician-run VCs associated with the Aravind Eye Care System in India. METHODS: VCs (clusters) were randomized to standard care or RFP across five 2-week study periods (steps). Patients in each cluster received standard care initially. At the start of each subsequent step, a randomly chosen cluster crossed over to providing RFP to eligible patients. All clusters took part in RFP during the last step. Standard care involved technician eye exams, optional fundus photography, and teleconsultation with an ophthalmologist. RFP involved eye exams, dilation and 40-degree fundus photography, and teleconsultation with an ophthalmologist. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Standard care and RFP clusters were compared by the proportion of patients referred for in-person evaluation by an ophthalmologist because of fundus photography findings and urgency of referral (urgently in ≤ 2 weeks vs. nonurgently in > 2 weeks). Generalized linear mixed models adjusting for cluster and step were used to estimate the odds of referral due to fundus photography findings compared with standard care. RESULTS: A total of 1447 patients were enrolled across the VCs, including 737 in the standard care group and 710 in the RFP group. Compared with standard care, the RFP group had a higher proportion of referrals due to fundus photography findings (11.3% vs. 4.4%), nonurgent referrals due to fundus photography (9.3% vs. 3.3%), and urgent referrals due to fundus photography (1.8% vs. 1.1%). The RFP intervention was associated with a 2-fold increased odds of being referred because of photography findings compared with standard care (odds ratio, 2.07; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-4.40; P = 0.058). CONCLUSIONS: Adding RFP to community eye clinics was associated with an increased odds of referral compared with standard care. This increase in referral was mostly due to nonurgent posterior segment disease.

The Association between Medication Adherence and Visual Field Progression in the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between medication adherence and visual field progression in participants randomized to the medication arm of the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS). DESIGN: The CIGTS was a randomized, multicenter clinical trial comparing initial treatment with topical medications to trabeculectomy for 607 participants with newly diagnosed glaucoma. PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred seven participants randomized to the medication arm of the CIGTS. METHODS: Participants were followed up at 6-month intervals for up to 10 years. Self-reported medication adherence and visual fields were measured. Medication adherence was assessed by telephone from responses to the question, "Did you happen to miss any dose of your medication yesterday?" The impact of medication adherence on mean deviation (MD) over time was assessed with a linear mixed regression model adjusting for the effects of baseline MD and age, cataract extraction, interactions, and time (through year 8, excluding time after crossover to surgery). Medication adherence was modeled as a cumulative sum of the number of prior visits where a missed dose of medication was reported. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mean deviation over time. RESULTS: Three hundred seven subjects (306 with adherence data) were randomized to treatment with topical medications and followed up for an average of 7.3 years (standard deviation, 2.3 years). One hundred forty-two subjects (46%) reported never missing a dose of medication over all available follow-up, 112 patients (37%) reported missing medication at up to one third of visits, 31 patients (10%) reported missing medication at one third to two thirds of visits, and 21 patients (7%) reported missing medication at more than two thirds of visits. Worse medication adherence was associated with loss of MD over time (P = 0.005). For subjects who reported never missing a dose of medication, the average predicted MD loss over 8 years was 0.62 dB, consistent with age-related loss (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.17-1.06; P = 0.007); subjects who reported missing medication doses at one third of visits had a loss of 1.42 dB (95% CI, 0.86-1.98; P < 0.0001); and subjects who reported missing medication doses at two thirds of visits showed a loss of 2.23 dB (95% CI, 1.19-3.26; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This longitudinal assessment demonstrated a statistically and clinically significant association between medication nonadherence and glaucomatous vision loss.

Designing and validating a low-cost real time locating system to continuously assess patient wait times.

OBJECTIVE: Outpatient clinics lack infrastructure to easily measure and understand patient wait times. Our objective was to design a low-cost, portable passive real time locating system within an outpatient clinic setting to measure patient wait times and patient-provider interactions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Direct observation was used to determine workflow in an outpatient glaucoma clinic at the University of Michigan. We used off-the shelf, antenna-integrated ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID readers (ThingMagic, Astra-Ex, Woburn, MA) and UHF re-useable passive RFID tags (Zebra Impinj Monza 4QT, Seattle, WA). We designed a custom RFID management application in the Java programming language that was equipped with 'live' device administration to collect time and location data from patients and providers. These hardware choices enabled low cost system installation. Hidden Markov Modeling (HMM) was used to smooth patient and provider location data. Location data were validated against direct observations and EHR evaluation. RESULTS: The HMM smoothed RFID system data accurately predicted patient location 80.6% of the time and provider location 79.1% of the time, compared to direct observation locations, an improvement over the raw RFID location data (65.0% and 77.9% accurate, respectively). Patient process time was on average 42.8 min (SD = 27.5) and wait time was 47.9 min (SD = 33.1). The installation and recurring capital costs of the system are approximately 10% of available commercially-supplied patient/provider tracking systems. DISCUSSION: Passive RFID time study systems can enable real-time localization of people in clinic, facilitating continuous capture of patient wait times and patient-provider interactions. The system must be tailored to the clinic to accurately reflect patient and provider movement. CONCLUSIONS: Capturing wait time data continuously and passively can empower continuous clinical quality improvement initiatives to enhance the patient experience.

A Glaucoma-Specific Brief Motivational Interviewing Training Program for Ophthalmology Para-professionals: Assessment of Feasibility and Initial Patient Impact.

Our objective was to test the feasibility of, fidelity to, and initial impact of a brief, glaucoma-specific motivational interviewing (MI) training program for ophthalmic para-professionals. This prospective, mixed-methods study had two components, one for staff and one for patients. Staff fidelity to MI principles was graded through audio-recorded encounters after initial and final training sessions. After training, patients graded staff for adherence to autonomy supportive care. Semi-structured interviews with para-professionals elicited feedback about the training and about their ability to implement MI in the clinic. The impact on patient satisfaction with staff communication, eye drop instillation self-efficacy, and overall health activation was assessed using a survey pre- and post-training. Para-professionals met two of three program goals for MI skills and improved in their overall scores for MI fidelity. Para-professionals noted lack of time in the clinic as a significant barrier to implementing counseling. Patient satisfaction with staff communication increased after the training (p = 0.04) among patients who rated their staff above the mean for providing autonomy supportive care. The intervention did not improve patients' eye drop instillation self-efficacy or overall health activation. Training para-professional staff in brief, glaucoma-specific MI techniques is feasible and may improve patient satisfaction, though dedicated time in clinic is needed to implement MI counseling into glaucoma practice.

Brand Medications and Medicare Part D: How Eye Care Providers' Prescribing Patterns Influence Costs.

PURPOSE: To quantify costs of eye care providers' Medicare Part D prescribing patterns for ophthalmic medications and to estimate the potential savings of generic or therapeutic drug substitutions and price negotiation. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: Eye care providers prescribing medications through Medicare Part D in 2013. METHODS: Medicare Part D 2013 prescriber public use file and summary file were used to calculate medication costs by physician specialty and drug. Savings from generic or therapeutic drug substitutions were estimated for brand drugs. The potential savings from price negotiation was estimated using drug prices negotiated by the United States Veterans Administration (USVA). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Total cost of brand and generic medications prescribed by eye care providers. RESULTS: Eye care providers accounted for $2.4 billion in total Medicare part D prescription drug costs and generated the highest percentage of brand name medication claims compared with all other providers. Brand medications accounted for a significantly higher proportion of monthly supplies by volume, and therefore, also by total cost for eye care providers compared with all other providers (38% vs. 23% by volume, P < 0.001; 79% vs. 56% by total cost, P < 0.001). The total cost attributable to eye care providers is driven by glaucoma medications, accounting for $1.2 billion (54% of total cost; 72% of total volume). The second costliest category, dry eye medications, was attributable mostly to a single medication, cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion (Restasis, Allergan, Irvine, CA), which has no generic alternative, accounting for $371 million (17% of total cost; 4% of total volume). If generic medications were substituted for brand medications when available, $148 million would be saved (7% savings); if generic and therapeutic substitutions were made, $882 million would be saved (42% savings). If Medicare negotiated the prices for ophthalmic medications at USVA rates, $1.09 billion would be saved (53% savings). CONCLUSIONS: Eye care providers prescribe more brand medications by volume than any other provider group. Efforts to reduce prescription expenditures by eye care providers should focus on increasing the use of generic medications, primarily through therapeutic substitutions. Policy changes enabling Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices could decrease costs to Medicare.

Accuracy of a Smartphone-based Autorefractor Compared with Criterion-standard Refraction.

SIGNIFICANCE: Uncorrected refractive error is a prevalent problem throughout the world especially among the low-income population who have limited access to professional eye care and cannot afford eyeglasses. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and usability of a low-cost, portable, smartphone-based autorefractor (Netra, EyeNetra Inc., Somerville, MA) in adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare the portable refractor with subjective (manifest and cycloplegic) refraction for sequential adult participants with best-corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or greater. For each method of refraction, the spherical equivalent was calculated. Differences between methods were tested with linear mixed regression models. A validated usability questionnaire was administered regarding ease of use (100-point scale, higher scores better) for the portable autorefractor. RESULTS: Eighty-seven subjects (152 eyes) were studied (age range, 20 to 90 years; mean ± standard deviation, 51.9 ± 18.3 years). Mean spherical equivalent by the portable device was -2.76 D (range, -14.75 to 3.63 D) compared with -2.49 D (range, -15.25 to 4.25 D) by manifest refraction. The mean relative difference in spherical equivalent between methods was -0.27 D (P = .001, significantly different than 0 D). The mean absolute difference between methods was 0.69 D (P < .001, significantly different than 0.5-D absolute difference). Similar results were found when comparing spherical equivalent between Netra and cycloplegic refraction methods. Subjects reported average ease of use for the Netra of 75.4 ± 19.8. CONCLUSIONS: The portable autorefractor had small but clinically significant differences from subjective refraction. The device's scores on the usability scale indicate good overall patient acceptance. The device may be valuable for use where there is limited access to a trained refractionist.

Eye Symptom Questionnaire to Evaluate Anterior Eye Health.

OBJECTIVES: Ophthalmologists assess eye complaints with a careful history and eye examination; however, other types of physicians have limited tools to evaluate anterior segment (AS) eye diseases. We identified the eye symptom questions that providers should ask to help determine the presence and urgency of AS eye diseases. METHODS: Persons with and without AS disease completed a self-report eye symptom questionnaire (ESQ) based on the National Institutes of Health Toolbox symptom items in an academic center's corneal and comprehensive eye clinics. Gold standard ophthalmic examination determined the presence and urgency of AS disease. The association between reported symptom severity and the probability of AS disease, or urgent AS disease, was evaluated using logistic regression models, and sensitivity and specificity of the ESQ were also calculated. RESULTS: A total of 324 eyes of 162 subjects were included in the study. Of these, AS disease was present in 255 eyes (79%); of which, 111 eyes showed urgent disease. Increasing symptom severity for eye pain (odds ratio [OR]=2.58; P<0.001), glare (OR=2.61; P=0.001), and blurry vision (OR=1.98; P<0.001) were associated with increased odds of AS disease. Increasing symptom severity for eye pain (OR=2.02; P<0.001), eye redness (OR=1.69; P=0.02), and blurry vision (OR=1.41, P=0.01) were associated with increased odds of urgent AS disease. For the primary analysis with mild symptoms considered relevant, the sensitivity of the ESQ to detect AS disease was 83% and to detect urgent AS disease was 92%. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of eye pain, glare, redness, and blurry vision indicate the presence and urgency of AS disease.

Donor cornea tissue in cases of drowning or water submersion: eye banks practice patterns and tissue outcomes.

Surgical use of donor corneal tissue from victims of water submersion (drowning or submersion secondary to death) remains controversial due to limited evidence about the quality of these tissues. To assess the safety of donor corneal tissue from victims of water submersion, an investigation of eye banks' practice patterns and tissue outcomes was conducted. All 79 Eye Bank Association of America accredited eye banks were contacted for a phone interview of practices regarding tissue from victims of water submersion. A retrospective review of corneal tissues from 2014 to 2016 from a large eye bank network was performed to identify all donors submerged in water. Corneal epithelial integrity, endothelial cell density (ECD), rim cultures, and adverse events were analyzed for associations with water submersion characteristics. 49 eye banks (62% response) participated in the survey. 55% of these eye banks had specific, written protocol for tissue eligibility from donors submerged in water. With or without specific protocol, eye banks reported considering water type (84%) and length of time submerged (92%) to determine eligibility. 22% of eye banks reported medical director involvement when eligibility determination was unclear. 79 tissues from 40 donors who were submerged were identified in 2014-2016 eye bank data. No donor tissues had pre-processing corneal infiltrates, positive rim cultures, or adverse events post-keratoplasty. Corneal epithelial integrity and ECD were not associated with water type or length of time submerged. In conclusion, data from a large eye bank network showed no adverse events or outcomes, indicating these tissues may be safe.

Binocular Measures of Visual Acuity and Visual Field versus Binocular Approximations.

PURPOSE: To assess the relationship of binocular visual function tests with binocular approximations using data from the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS). DESIGN: Case series based on existing data from a clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred seven patients with newly diagnosed open-angle glaucoma from the CIGTS. METHODS: Monocular visual field (VF) and visual acuity (VA) tests were performed at baseline and every 6 months thereafter. Binocular tests of visual function (Esterman VF score, binocular VA) were added to the CIGTS protocol 3 years into the study. The binocular approximations of binocular visual function were better or worse eye, average eye, better or worse location, and binocular summation or pointwise binocular summation. Associations between binocular tests and binocular approximations to represent binocular visual function were assessed with Pearson's correlations (r), as was the relationship between vision-related quality of life (VR QOL; Visual Activities Questionnaire [VAQ] and the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire [NEI VFQ-25]) and binocular tests or binocular approximations of visual function. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Binocular visual function (VF and VA) and VR QOL. RESULTS: Five hundred seventy-five patients underwent at least 1 binocular visual function test. The Esterman score was correlated significantly with all binocular approximations of VF, with r values ranging from 0.31 (worse-eye mean deviation [MD]) to 0.42 (better-eye MD; P < 0.0001 for all). Binocular VA showed stronger correlations with binocular approximations, with r values ranging from 0.65 (worse-eye VA) to 0.80 (binocular summation; P < 0.0001 for all). Correlations between the VAQ and Esterman score were stronger in 7 of 9 subscales (r = -0.14 to -0.25; P < 0.05 for all) than correlations with all 7 binocular approximations. In contrast, correlations between the VAQ and binocular VA (r = -0.07 to -0.21) were weaker in all subscales than those with better-eye, average-eye, and binocular summation of VA (r = -0.12 to -0.25), but not different from worse-eye values. These trends also were found in relevant subscales of the NEI VFQ-25. CONCLUSIONS: We found limited benefit in binocular testing of VA in the clinical setting as a means of approximating a patient's reported visual functioning. In contrast, we found some benefit in performing binocular VF testing, because the results correlated more closely with reported functioning than binocular approximations.

Predictors of Photographic Quality with a Handheld Nonmydriatic Fundus Camera Used for Screening of Vision-Threatening Diabetic Retinopathy.

PURPOSE: To analyze predictors of image quality for a handheld nonmydriatic fundus camera used for screening of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy. METHODS: An ophthalmic photographer at an Aravind Eye Hospital obtained nonmydriatic and mydriatic fundus images from 3 fields in 275 eyes of 155 participants over 13 months using a Smartscope camera (Optomed, Oulu, Finland) and a Topcon tabletop fundus camera (Topcon, Tokyo, Japan). Two fellowship-trained retina specialists graded the images. Repeated-measures logistic regression assessed predictors of the main outcome measure: gradability of the fundus images. RESULTS: Of 2,475 images, 76.2% of the Smartscope nonmydriatic images, 90.1% of the Smartscope mydriatic images, and 92.0% of the Topcon mydriatic images were gradable. Eyes with vitreous hemorrhage (OR = 0.24, p < 0.0001) or advanced cataract (OR = 0.08, p < 0.0001) had decreased odds of image gradability. Excluding eyes with cataract or vitreous hemorrhage, nonmydriatic macular image gradability improved from 68.4% in the first set of 55 eyes to 94.6% in the final set of 55 eyes. CONCLUSION: With sufficient training, paraprofessional health care staff can obtain high-quality images with a portable nonmydriatic fundus camera, particularly in patients with clear lenses and clear ocular media.

Thyroid-Related Orbital Decompression Surgery: A Multivariate Analysis of Risk Factors and Outcomes.

PURPOSE: Despite the number of publications on orbital decompression surgery for thyroid eye disease, there are few comparative studies and most studies are underpowered. The goal of the study is to use multivariable analysis to identify independent patient and disease-related predictors of response to decompression surgery and of need for secondary decompressions. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent transorbital thyroid-related orbital decompression surgery at the Kellogg Eye Center of the University of Michigan between 1999 and 2014. Demographic, medical, and surgical covariates were collected. Decompression techniques included medial, lateral, and balanced decompressions, with or without orbital fat removal. Main outcomes included proptosis reduction and secondary decompressions, both analyzed at the orbital level. Univariate and multivariable analyses (with adjustment for interorbit correlation) were conducted to determine predictors of the outcomes of interest. RESULTS: Mean proptosis reduction was 3.8 ± 2.4 mm (mean ± standard deviation, N = 420 orbits). The secondary decompression rate was 13.8% (82/594). On multivariable mixed linear regression, larger preoperative proptosis (p < 0.0001), balanced decompression (p = 0.0002), thyroid eye disease duration < 4 years (p = 0.0093), and history of orbital radiation (p = 0.0111) were all predictive of greater proptosis reduction. On multivariable survival modeling, factors associated with increased hazard for secondary decompression include younger age (p = 0.0434), larger preoperative proptosis (p = 0.0001), unilateral decompression (p = 0.0272), preoperative steroid treatment (p = 0.0200), and normal thyroid function (p = 0.0148). Factors associated with decreased hazard include adjunctive fat decompression (p = 0.0004), balanced decompression (vs. lateral, p = 0.0039), and African-American ethnicity (p = 0.0076). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a diverse study cohort, the authors have identified factors associated with clinically relevant outcomes of decompression surgery for thyroid eye disease, including proptosis reduction and incidence of secondary decompression. Randomized controlled trials of different treatment algorithms for TED are needed to devise optimized guidelines for individualizing surgical care.

Compressive Optic Neuropathy and Repeat Orbital Decompression: A Case Series.

PURPOSE: To characterize the presenting characteristics, preoperative clinical activity score (CAS), surgical approach, and visual outcomes in patients with thyroid eye disease undergoing repeat orbital decompression for recurrent or recalcitrant compressive optic neuropathy (CON). METHODS: The medical records of patients with recurrent or recalcitrant CON undergoing repeat orbital decompressions were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome measures included pre- and postoperative Humphrey visual field mean deviation, visual acuity (VA) measured in logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution, color vision measured by Ishihara plates, and presence of relative afferent pupillary defect. Details of the surgical procedure and each patient's CAS at presentation were also recorded. RESULTS: Six patients, 9 orbits, with a mean preoperative CAS of 3.8 were included in this review. The mean time between initial decompression and presentation to our center for recurrent or persistent CON symptoms was 8.6 years (range, 1 to 15 years). At presentation, the average Humphrey visual field mean deviation was -16.5 (standard deviation: 8.8), improving to -3.8 (2.4) postoperatively with a mean of 9.3 months follow up (mean improvement of 75%). Preoperative VA was 0.34 (0.23) LogMAR, improving to 0.05 (0.10) LogMAR with a mean follow up of 10.4 months. Pre- to postoperative comparisons of clinical measures all showed statistically significant improvement (p < 0.05). Eight eyes presented with decreased VA (any VA < 20/20), 4 with decreased color vision (any color vision < 11), and 1 with a relative afferent pupillary defect, and all these patients demonstrated improvement following repeat orbital decompression. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with thyroid eye disease, symptoms of recurrent CON occurred up to 15 years following initial orbital decompression underscoring the smoldering, progressive nature of the disease. Repeat decompression that focused on the orbital apex resulted in visual improvement in all 6 patients. Despite clinical evidence of CON, the mean CAS of these patients at presentation was only 3.8, highlighting the importance of close monitoring of patients with thyroid eye disease following decompression regardless of the external manifestations of disease activity.