ABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the post-lockdown challenges during Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amongst the ophthalmologists in India. Methods: An online survey was sent to the practicing ophthalmologists across India. Data were collected from the responding ophthalmologists and analysed using Medcalc 16.4 software. Results: A total of 794 responses were obtained. Most respondents (51%) were in the age group 30-50 years and were in independent practice (40.05%). Almost three-fourth of ophthalmologists resumed their surgical services after a gap of more than a month post-lockdown. Almost a third of the respondents had significant reduction in their surgical workload during this period. Significant fear of contracting COVID-19 infection in the operation theatres was reported while moderate difficulty was found in procuring protective gear during immediate post-national lockdown period. Conclusion: The pandemic has changed the ophthalmic practice significantly, with patient and staff safety becoming areas of major concern. Both financial and psychological concerns affecting healthcare workers need addressing for continued patient care.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Ophthalmologists/statistics & numerical data , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data , SARS-CoV-2 , Adult , Aged , COVID-19/prevention & control , Communicable Disease Control/methods , Female , Health Surveys , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Care , Personal Protective Equipment/statistics & numerical data , Quarantine , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Analysis of diagnostic ability of macular ganglionic cell complex and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in glaucoma. AIM: To correlate functional and structural parameters and comparing predictive value of each of the structural parameters using Fourier-domain (FD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) among primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) versus normal population. SETTING AND DESIGN: Single centric, cross-sectional study done in 234 eyes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients were enrolled in three groups: POAG, ocular hypertensive and normal (40 patients in each group). After comprehensive ophthalmological examination, patients underwent standard automated perimetry and FD-OCT scan in optic nerve head and ganglion cell mode. The relationship was assessed by correlating ganglion cell complex (GCC) parameters with mean deviation. Results were compared with RNFL parameters. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed with SPSS, analysis of variance, t-test, Pearson's coefficient, and receiver operating curve. RESULTS: All parameters showed strong correlation with visual field (P < 0.001). Inferior GCC had highest area under curve (AUC) for detecting glaucoma (0.827) in POAG from normal population. However, the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.5) when compared with other parameters. None of the parameters showed significant diagnostic capability to detect OHT from normal population. In diagnosing early glaucoma from OHT and normal population, only inferior GCC had statistically significant AUC value (0.715). CONCLUSION: In this study, GCC and RNFL parameters showed equal predictive capability in perimetric versus normal group. In early stage, inferior GCC was the best parameter. In OHT population, single day cross-sectional imaging was not valuable.
