Clinical Characteristics of the Patients Referred to Ophthalmic Clinic for Medical Disability Evaluation

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical characteristics and disability rates of patients seeking expert consultation for legal reasons because of ophthalmologic symptoms. METHODS: We analyzed the gender, age, reason for consultation, and result of consultation, among other factors, by retrospectively examining the medical files of 89 patients from January 1999 to December 2004. RESULTS: Out of 89 patients, men constituted 76.4% and patients in their forties constituted 23.0%. The most common reason for consultation was a traffic accident (64.0%), followed by a medical lawsuit (11.2%). Forty-nine patients (55.1%) were diagnosed with a disability, while 30 patients (33.7%) were not. Diagnostic decisions for the other 10 patients (11.2%) were deferred. Optic atrophy was the most frequent cause for deteriorating visual acuity in patients, accounting for 19 cases, and diplopia caused by orbital wall fracture was also prevalent (9 patients). Among the resulting types of damage, brain damage was the most frequent, while the percentage of patients with an impairment in the visual system was approximately 29.0% among the patients diagnosed with a disability. CONCLUSIONS: Our results will be helpful in elucidating the clinical characteristics of patients referred to the ophthalmic clinic for consultation because of legal concerns.