ABSTRACT
Literature describing the trends and utilization of pediatric eye-related emergency department (ED) visits is limited. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 311 pediatric patients visiting Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BPEI) ED between March and May 2020 to quantify the effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on ophthalmology care utilization. In our study, pediatric ED visits declined by half at the onset of the pandemic in March. The number of visits reached the lowest point in early April and increased to 48% of the pre-COVID volume by the end of May. Despite changes in volume, patient demographics and clinical diagnoses were relatively consistent throughout the pandemic.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Emergency Service, Hospital/trends , Eye Diseases/epidemiology , Facilities and Services Utilization/trends , Health Services Accessibility/trends , Pediatric Emergency Medicine/trends , SARS-CoV-2 , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Visual impairment affects over 19 million children globally and, if left untreated, can result in significant ocular morbidity. Due to the treatable nature of many childhood visual disturbances, pediatric vision screening is essential for optimization of health and developmental outcomes. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has inevitably disrupted the provision of routine pediatric health care as evidenced by reduced adherence to vaccination schedules. Further, the home environment, which many children have now become confined to, is known to pose risk for eye trauma which may result in irreversible vision loss. Therefore, it is imperative for pediatricians and pediatric ophthalmologists to focus on eye health and safety, despite the backdrop of a global pandemic.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , SARS-CoV-2 , Vision Disorders/diagnosis , Vision Disorders/therapy , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Pediatricians , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Quarantine , Social Isolation , Telemedicine/organization & administrationABSTRACT
Telehealth is an area of medicine which has magnified the ability to treat patients remotely. Presently the education of medical professionals pertaining to the value, use, and implementation of telehealth is not adequate to harness the potential of available technologies. Patients engaging in telehealth experience time and cost savings, improved disease management through remote monitoring programs, and high-quality care regardless of geographic location. Despite this, medical education has been slow to evolve. It is therefore imperative that medical curricula incorporate training for this rapidly advancing mode of healthcare delivery to enable students to best care for their future patient population.