Visual Psychophysics / Physiological Optics - ARVO

ARVO 2013 Annual Meeting Abstracts by Scientific Section/Group – Visual Psychophysics / Physiological Opticsnecessary to drive and can improve legally blind vision to a highlyfunctional level.Commercial Relationships: Lloyd M. Cuzzo, None; Jesse L.Berry, None; Peter A. Quiros, NoneTable 1Commercial Relationships: Julie-Anne Little, None; Pamela M.anketell, None; Stephen M. Gallagher, None; Kathryn J.Saunders, NoneSupport: HSC R&D Office Northern IrelandProgram Number: 2338 Poster Board Number: B0297Presentation Time: 2:45 PM - 4:30 PMUnmet Need for Corrective Eyeglasses: Follow-up Results from aLos Angeles County Hospital SurveyLloyd M. Cuzzo 1, 2 , Jesse L. Berry 1, 2 , Peter A. Quiros 1, 2 .1 Ophthalmology, Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA; 2 KeckSchool of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,CA.Purpose: To demonstrate that donated eyeglasses can be used forvision correction in settings where patients cannot afford to purchaseprescription glasses.Methods: Patients at the Los Angeles County (LAC) Ophthalmologyclinic who were identified as having refractive error were manifestrefracted and prescribed glasses over a one-month period. Those whocould not afford glasses were given glasses from a donated glassescollection in the clinic. Donated glasses with closest prescription totheir manifest refraction were given to the patients. Visual acuity(VA) was recorded without glasses, with manifest refraction (MRx),and with donated glasses. VA before and after glasses were convertedto logMAR. This study was approved by the University of SouthernCalifornia iSTAR Internal Review Board and the methods were inaccordance with the guidelines of Declaration of Helsinki.Results: The results presented in this study come from the firstmonth of dispensing glasses from a donated eyeglasses program.During the month, 7 patients (14 eyes) were refracted and thenprovided recycled glasses. Two of the eyes had a VA of no lightperception and thus were excluded from the study. Of the 12 eyesincluded in the study, the average logmar VA before glasses was 0.93which correlates to a snellen VA of 20/170 (range 20/30-20/400).The average best corrected logmar VA after MRx was 0.32,correlating to snellen VA of 20/42 (range 20/25-20/100). Withdonated glasses the average logmar was 0.41 correlating to a snellenVA of 20/50 (range 20/30-20/100). Five of the 7 patients (71%) had aVA less than the level required for driving (20/40 or better in at leastone eye) without glasses but were able to attain ‘driving’ vision withdonated glasses. Three of the 7 (43%) patients were previouslylegally blind without corrective refractive lenses (20/200 or worse inboth eyes) but with donated lenses improved on average to 20/70.Conclusions: Previously the authors have demonstrated that cost is amajor factor in preventing low-income, un- or under-insured patientsat LAC Hospital from obtaining prescription eyeglasses. Donatedeyeglasses are a functional, cost effective means for significantlycorrecting refractive error. In many patients they can restore visionProgram Number: 2339 Poster Board Number: B0298Presentation Time: 2:45 PM - 4:30 PMEpidemiological profile of ophthalmological care in the PublicService in BrazilMarisa N. Figueiredo 1 , Larissa Rossana S. Stival 1 , Marcia L.Machado 1 , Joao J. Nassaralla 2 . 1 Cornea and Refractive Surgery,Instituto de Olhos de Goiânia, Goiania, Brazil; 2 Retina and Vitreous,IOG, Goiania, Brazil.Purpose: To improve health services it is necessary to know thedemand profile. This study was carried out with the 2 objectives: toidentify the main reasons to seek an ophthalmologic public careservice in Brazil (SUS - Brazilian National Health Care System) andto analyze the frequency of the principal diagnoses, aiming to achievegoals of loss in eyesight prevention.Methods: This is an observational, retrospective, cross studyconducted from March to August 2012, at the Instituto de Olhos deGoiânia (Goiânia Eye Institute), analyzing 1670 patients, thereforerepresenting a good share of the Goiás State and Mid-WesternBrazilian region. The data were obtained through the analysis of themedical records with the ICD-10 registration. The studied variableswere age and sex of patient, origin, eye discomfort complaints,comorbidities and diagnosis (ICD-10).Results: The ages ranged from 0 to 99 years and the mean age was56.9 years. There was a predominance of females (58.1%) and themain origin of patients was Goiânia (61.5%) against 38.5% frominterior. It was detected a prevalence of 45.9% of patients with ahistory of Systemic Arterial Hypertension, 16.8% of DiabetesMellitus and 5% of glaucoma. The main reason for the consultationwas low visual acuity (70%), followed by burning (26%) anditchiness (24.4%), as shown in Figure 1. Among the abnormal teststhere was a high prevalence of refractive errors (73.4%) andpresbyopia (59.6%). The cause of refractive errors was astigmatism(70.5%), hypertrophy (58.6%) and myopia (15.1%). Table 2 showsother main diagnosis results.Conclusions: The consequences of blindness are becoming animportant issue in public health. Primary care professionals play arelevant role in prevention and control of ocular disabilities in theircommunities. Understanding the main complaints and commoneyesight health problems in a particular region can help bettermanage the public resources and make a better planning for strategicaction aiming to reduce and control visual impairment and blindness.©2013, Copyright by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Go to iovs.org to access the version of record. For permissionto reproduce any abstract, contact the ARVO Office at arvo@arvo.org.