The output of cataract surgery performed by trained non-ophthalmologist physicians in rural areas: study of cataract outcomes and up-take of services report 7.

BACKGROUND: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide and surgery can restore vision in most patients. Some patients have little access to surgical services due to lack of cataract surgeons and the unaffordable costs. In 2005 we built a service model that trained rural non-ophthalmologist physicians to perform cataract surgeries in rural China. This study evaluates the long-term impacts of this model. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to analyze patients' hand-written medical records and electronic outpatient record between January 2005 and December 2019 at two rural health clinics in Southern China. RESULTS: In total, 34,601 patients (49,942 eyes) underwent cataract surgery by non-ophthalmologist physicians from 2005 to 2019.Visual acuity was clearly documented in 38,251 eyes. Before surgery, the unaided distance visual acuity (UDVA) of 60.7% (23,205/38,251) eyes was less than 0.05 decimal. On the first day after surgery, the percentage of UDVA < 0.05 eyes was reduced to 6.0%, and 96.7% (36,980/38,251) of the eyes achieved a better UDVA compared to pre-operation. Surgical-related complications occurred in 218 eyes. The most common complication was posterior capsule rupture (114, 0.23%). 44.3% (15,341/34,601) of the patients chose to have a second eye cataract surgery (SECS) in the same clinic. At one of the outpatient clinics, 21,595 patients received basic eye care apart from cataract surgery between 2018 and 2020. CONCLUSIONS: Non-ophthalmologist physicians trained for cataract surgeries in rural clinics can improve cataract related visual acuity and basic eye care to the local population.

Impact of colorectal cancer screening on incidence, mortality and surgery rates: Evidences from programs based on the fecal immunochemical test in Italy.

Fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) are among the most commonly used tests for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs worldwide. However, no randomised controlled trials have been carried out evaluating the impact of FIT-based screening programs (FIT-progr) on CRC incidence and mortality rates. Italian FIT-progr represent one of the most widespread and established experience worldwide. This paper reviews the evidence on the impact of FIT-progr on CRC incidence, tumor stage at diagnosis, mortality and surgery rates, deriving from Italian routine programs, i.e., outside the research setting. Unfortunately, the application of FIT-progr in Italy can be considered as an unplanned experimental model, due to the differences between Regions, both in health system management and adherence of the target population to the screening programs. The analysis of the manuscripts considered in the review, confirms that FIT-progr are effective in reducing CRC incidence and mortality rates and in improving the rate of endoscopic treatment of early invasive lesions. The review also highlights that FIT-progr are less performing for proximal colon than for distal colon and rectum.

Governmental support for achieving "VISION 2020: the Right to Sight" in Iran: the cataract surgical rates.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was evaluate the effect of governmental support in the form of Health Transformation Plan (HTP) on increasing the cataract surgical rate. METHODS: The number of cataract surgeries was collected from Iranian cataract surgery clinics during 2019. HTP was implemented in 2014. Forty-seven major and forty-five minor surgery centers were selected from all provinces. In each center, sampling was done from 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016. RESULTS: On average, 6202 and 7134 cataract surgery rate were performed before and after HTP, respectively. The cataract surgical rate rose by 15.03% after the HTP. After HTP, the proportion of cataract surgery increased by 21.32% in governmental centers and decreased by 17.56%, 24.45%, and 14.89% in private, insurance, and charity centers, respectively. The cataract surgical rate was 4093 and 6026 in the first economic quartile (the poorest), 3669 and 4595 in the second quartile, 5884 and 5928 in the third quartile, and 8427 and 9681 in the fourth quartile (the richest) before and after HTP, respectively. The highest growth in the cataract surgical rate was seen in the first quartile (47.24%) followed by the second (25.26%), fourth (14.88%), and third quartiles (0.74%). CONCLUSION: The Health Transformation Plan has been successful in increasing the cataract surgical rate in the low-income group and identifying differences in the services as well as the economic groups within the population.

Diagnostic accuracy of radiography, digital breast tomosynthesis, micro-CT and ultrasound for margin assessment during breast surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: Achieving adequate resection margins in breast conserving surgery is challenging and often demands more than one surgical procedure. We evaluated pooled diagnostic sensitivity, and specificity of radiological methods for intraoperative margin assessment and their impact on repeat surgery rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included studies using radiography, digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), micro-CT, and ultrasound for intraoperative margin assessment with the histological assessment as the reference method. A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science. Two investigators screened the studies for eligibility criteria and extracted data of the included studies independently. The quality assessment on diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS)-2 tool was used. A bivariate random effect model was used to obtained pooled sensitivity and specificity of the index tests in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The systematic search resulted in screening of 798 unique records. Twenty-two articles with 29 radiological imaging methods were selected for meta-analysis. Pooled sensitivity and specificity and area under the curve were calculated for each of the 4 subgroups in the meta-analysis respectively: Radiography; 52%, 77%, 60%, DBT; 67%, 76%, 76%, micro-CT; 68%, 69%, 72%, and ultrasound; 72%, 78%, 80%. The repeat surgery rate was poorly reported in the included studies. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound showed the highest and radiography the lowest diagnostic performance for intraoperative margin assessment. However, the heterogeneity between studies was high and the subgroups small. The radiological methods for margin assessment need further improvement to provide reliable guidance in the clinical workflow and to prevent repeat surgeries.

Value of ocular trauma score in predicting the incidence of secondary glaucoma after closed globe injury.

AIM: To analyze the visual acuity (VA) and the incidence of secondary glaucoma among patients with closed globe injury (CGI). To determine the correlations between the ocular trauma score (OTS) with surgery rate, and evaluate the applicability of OTS in secondary glaucoma prediction and treatment. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 265 patients (265 eyes) with CGI admitted to Xijing Hospital between January 2014 and December 2016. The clinical characteristics; VA, IOP, injury zone, surgery, and IOP-lowering medications were collected at the initial visit and at six months. The patients with secondary glaucoma were scored and assessed by the OTS system. The correlation of the anti-glaucoma surgery with the OTS was evaluated. The difference in the number of IOP-lowering medications between the initial visit and six months was analyzed. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 33.5 ± 20.7 years with 80.8% being males. The final VA outcome improved in its totality after treatment. 35 patients developed glaucoma, with an incident rate of 13.2% over six months. All glaucoma patients had an injury in zone I and II, and 12 of them had an injury in zone III. The severity of the OTS category showed a strong correlation with the anti-glaucoma surgery rate. After the surgical intervention, the number of IOP-lowering medications in OTS category 2, 3, and 4 significantly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: The OTS has predictive value in the incidence of secondary glaucoma after CGI. A patient with a low score is more likely to develop secondary glaucoma and might require surgical intervention.

Women have a higher resection rate for lung cancer and improved survival after surgery.

OBJECTIVES: Surgery is the standard treatment in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer and select cases of small-cell lung cancer, but gender differences in its use and outcome are poorly known. Gender differences in surgical resection rates and long-term survival after lung cancer surgery were therefore investigated. METHODS: In Finland, 3524 patients underwent resection for primary lung cancer during 2004-2014. Surgical rate and mortality data were retrospectively retrieved from 3 nationwide compulsory registries. Survival was studied by comparing propensity-matched cohorts. Median follow-up was 8.6 years. RESULTS: Surgery rate was higher in women (15.9% vs 12.3% in men, P < 0.0001). Overall survival was 85.3% 1 year, 51.4% 5 years, 33.4% 10 years and 24.2% at 14 years from surgery. In matched groups, survival after resection was better in women after 1 year (91.3% vs 83.3%), 5 years (60.2% vs 48.6%), 10 years (43.7% vs 27.9%) and 14 years (29.0% vs 21.1%) after surgery [hazard ratio (HR) 0.66; confidence interval (CI) 0.58-0.75; P < 0.0001]. Of all first-year survivors, 39.1% were alive 10 years and 28.3% 14 years after surgery. Among these matched first-year survivors, women had higher 14-year survival (36.9% vs 25.3%; HR 0.75; CI 0.65-0.87; P = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: Surgery is performed for lung cancer more often in women. Women have more favourable short- and long-term outcome after lung cancer surgery. Gender discrepancy in survival continues to increase beyond the first year after surgery.

Supervised physical therapy versus unsupervised exercise for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis: 1-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the 1-year outcomes of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis treated with supervised physical therapy or unsupervised exercise. DESIGN: A single-center randomized controlled trial with concealed allocation, blinded assessor and intention-to-treat analysis. SETTING: Spine care center. SUBJECTS: A total of 86 patients presenting with symptoms of neurogenic claudication caused by lumbar spinal stenosis. INTERVENTIONS: The physical therapy group received supervised physical therapy sessions twice a week for 6 weeks and home exercise program. The home exercise group received 6-week home exercise program only. MAIN MEASURES: The primary outcome was symptom severity on the Zurich claudication questionnaire at 1 year. Secondary outcomes included physical function, pain, health-related quality of life and the surgery rate after 1 year. RESULTS: At 1 year, more patients in the physical therapy group than in the home exercise group achieved minimum clinically important differences in Zurich claudication questionnaire symptom severity (60.5% vs 32.6%; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 4.3, [95% CI [1.5-12.3], P = 0.01); Zurich claudication questionnaire physical function (55.8% vs 32.6%; AOR 3.0 [1.1-8.1], P = 0.03); SF-36 bodily pain (48.8% vs 25.6%; AOR 2.8 [1.1-7.3], P = 0.03), and SF-36 general health (20.9% vs 7.0%; AOR 6.1 [1.1-33.0], P = 0.04). The surgery rate at 1 year was lower in the physical therapy than in the home exercise group (7.0% vs 23.3%; AOR 0.2 [0.04-0.9] P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Supervised physical therapy produced greater improvements in symptom severity and physical function than unsupervised exercise and was associated with lower likelihood of receiving surgery within 1 year.

Longitudinal changes in global cataract surgery rate inequality and associations with socioeconomic indices.

IMPORTANCE: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness and the second leading cause of vision impairment. The majority of people with vision impairment reside in low-resource settings with limited access to cataract surgery and services. BACKGROUND: Cataract surgery rate (CSR) is a proxy measure for eye care service delivery and estimating the burden of cataract disease. This research aims to evaluate the longitudinal changes of CSR inequality globally and by income groups. DESIGN: Systematic review. PARTICIPANTS: Studies published from January 2000 to December 2015 were considered for inclusion into the review. METHODS: CSR data were retrieved from a systematic review of published literature (OVID Medline, Embase, PubMed, ISI, Web of Science), unpublished reports and data repositories. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Inequality of CSR was measured on a global scale and between countries grouped by income levels using the Gini coefficient and concentration index, with respect to the human development index (HDI). RESULTS: Overall, correlations between HDI and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita vs CSRs were observed with R2 values of 49.2% (ß = 5.01, P < 0.001) and 38.9% (ß = 0.56, P < 0.001), respectively. Analysis of longitudinal CSR data using generalized estimation equation models revealed strong associations between CSR and HDI (P < 0.001), GDP (P < 0.001) and the proportion of people aged ≥50 (P = 0.001). Overall, the trend of inequality in worldwide CSR remained relatively stable. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Inequalities in cataract service provision were found between countries grouped by income and associated with socioeconomic indicators.

[Clinical practice variation in cataract surgery]. / Variabilidad clínica en la cirugía de la catarata.

PURPOSE: Cataract surgery rates have dramatically increased in the last two decades. However, clinical practice variation in cataract surgery has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of this review is to analyze clinical practice variation, including the causes and consequences of this phenomenon. Then, its role in health care planning and health care quality is focused, emphasizing the importance of reducing it and providing several practical strategies to accomplish it. RECENT FINDINGS: The latest researches are presented in this article. They identify the development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines as the best tool to standardize care processes. CONCLUSION: Managing unwarranted or unwanted variation would improve quality of care and may lead to a significant saving in health care spending.

The need for orthognathic surgery in nonsyndromic patients with repaired isolated cleft palate.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of need for orthognathic surgery among nonsyndromic patients with isolated cleft palate repaired during infancy at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PATIENTS: PATIENTS with nonsyndromic isolated cleft palate born between 1970 and 1997 with available records including a lateral cephalometric radiograph taken at ≥15 years of age. METHODS: PATIENTS who had undergone or were being prepared for orthognathic surgery were automatically counted as requiring surgery. For the remaining patients, lateral cephalometric radiographs were traced and analyzed. Arbitrarily set cephalometric criteria were used to identify the "objective" need for orthognathic surgery. RESULTS: Of the 189 patients identified with nonsyndromic isolated cleft palate and for whom records were available, 25 (13.2%) were deemed to require orthognathic surgery. Of the surgical cohort, 92% required surgical correction for a Class III malocclusion. Similar percentages of males and females required orthognathic surgery. An apparently greater proportion of patients of Asian background (18.5%) than of white background (10.6%) required surgery, but this difference was not significant (P = .205). CONCLUSIONS: The current results suggest that approximately one in eight patients at our institution with nonsyndromic isolated cleft palate requires orthognathic surgery. There is a tendency for this to be higher in patients of Asian descent and lower in patients of white descent. Variability in extent, severity, and phenotype of the cleft, which may be attributed largely to genetics, may play an important role in dictating the need for orthognathic surgery.

Eye health is everyone's responsibility: China's first Western-style eye hospital improves in the prevention of blindness.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between China's first Western-style eye hospital development and the prevention of blindness in China and determine the main factor influencing eye health today. METHODS: Data about eye health, blindness and cataract surgery rate of China from public website of World Health Organization (WHO), ORBIS International, Ministry of Health (MOH) of China, Pubmed center and Historical Archives of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (ZOC) were reviewed and analyzed. RESULTS: ZOC is China's first Western-style eye hospital. In 2012, the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital has chosen ZOC once again as one of its destinations, 30 years after ORBIS expanded internationally to train eye care professionals and treat underserved patients in developing countries in 1982. During the past 30 years, cataract surgery rate and public awareness of blindness prevention were improved greatly in China, in which ZOC plays a very important role. CONCLUSION: ZOC, as China's first Western-style eye hospital, has improved in the prevention of blindness. Eye health has become everyone's responsibility.

Resultados del Programa Nacional de Prevención de Ceguera por Catarata: Cuba 2000-2003 / Results of the National Program of Prevention of Blindness due to Cataract: Cuba 2000-2003

Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo y se describen las cirugías de catarata realizadas en Cuba, agrupadas por año, para Ciudad de La Habana y el resto del país, clasificadas según la utilización de lentes intraocualres. Se calculó la tasa de cirugía de catarata; los datos fueron obtenidos del reporte anual realizado por los Grupos Provinciales de Oftalmología.

A descriptive and retrospective study was conducted. The cataract surgeries performed in Cuba, grouped by year for Havana City and the rest of the country and classified according to the use of intraocular lens, were described. The cataract surgery rate was calculated. Data were obtained from the annual report issued by Provincial Groups of Ophthalmology.