The impact of COVID-19 on compliance to amblyopia treatment in a tertiary eye care center.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on compliance to amblyopia therapy from the perspective of parents of amblyopic children. Methods: The participants for the qualitative study were enrolled from the medical records of a tertiary eye care center during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trained researcher conducted telephonic interviews consisting of validated 15 open-ended questions for 15 min. The questions were related to patients' compliance toward amblyopia treatment and the date of follow-up with their practitioners. The data collected were entered on Excel sheets in the participant's own words and later converted to a transcript for analysis. Results: A total of 217 parents of children with amblyopia who were due for follow-up were contacted through telephone. The response rate for willingness to participate was only 36% (n = 78). Of these, 76% (n = 59) of parents reported that their child was compliant toward the treatment during the therapy period and 69% reported that their child was currently not on treatment for amblyopia. Conclusion: In the current study, we have observed that although reported compliance by parents during the therapy period was good, around 69% of patients had discontinued amblyopia therapy. The main reason for the discontinuation of therapy was the failure to visit the hospital during the scheduled follow-up with the eye care practitioner.

A questionnaire-based assessment of Safe Eye Examination (SEE) technique.

PURPOSE: This study aims to assess the novel and innovative method of Safe Eye Examination (SEE) technique using the model eye for the purpose of teaching, training, and resident examination. METHODS: A questionnaire-based study (Descriptive Data) with 53 participants, including ophthalmology residents, fellows in various subspecialties, and trainee optometrists was used. In our study, we used the Reti Eye model, but instead of the usual retina template sheet, we used prominent pathological fundus photographs loaded into the model eye. The study participants were asked to view prominent pathological fundus images printed on a matte finish paper. A circular image was cut and was placed in the Reti Eye model. The candidates were made to perform indirect ophthalmoscopy with a + 20D lens and to fill up a Google image assessment scale questionnaire with characteristics, including pixelation, sharpness, contrast, reflexes, blotchy appearance, and diagnostic confidence, which were then analyzed and depicted. Association between categorical variables was analyzed using Fisher exact test and Chi-square test. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All data were analyzed with a statistical software package (SPSS, Version 16.0 for Windows). RESULTS: The number of positive responses (>90%) obtained for the pixelation, sharpness, contrast, reflexes, blotchy appearance, and diagnostic confidence of the image viewed were statistically more significant than the negative responses (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The SEE technique of using the model eye can be incorporated for teaching, training, and skill assessment in the examinations in these difficult times of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.