Survey of eye care services in Yunnan Province of China in 2007 / 眼科

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the status and capacity of eye care services in Yunnan Province in 2007. Design Cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Participants 165 medical institutions in Yunnan Province. Methods Using a standardized questionnaire designed by Ministry of Health,the all hospitals of county or above and eye hospitals in Yunnan Province were investigated during October to December 2007. Main Outcome Measures Number of ophthalmologists and ophthalmic nurses,surgical volume per year,out-patient volume per year and number of ophthalmologists who can operate cataract independently. Results Totally 165 hospitals covered Yunnan Province participated in this study (response rate was 100%). In all these institutions,there were 735 ophthalmologists and 771 nurses. 392 ophthalmologists could perform cataract surgery independently. Within 16 prefectures of Yunnan,Zhaotong prefecture had the least resources of ophthalmology (7 ophthalmologists per million population) while Kunming had 32 ophthalmologists per million populations. In 2006,58346 eye surgeries were performed in all these institutions,including 23833 cases of cataract surgeries. 27 hospitals were not able to provide cataract surgical services. Out 165 institutions,only 29 hospitals (17.6%) had advanced ophthalmic equipments and 6 hospitals (3.6%) did not have any ophthalmic equipment. Conclusion There are big differences of eye care services among different level and different location of medical institutions in Yunnan Province of China. Inappropriate distribution of human resources and low productivity are main issues. Further resources allocation and optimized use of resources in eye care services are needed to meet the needs of patients.