Abstract
Purpose :
Vision plays a central role in overall health and quality of life. Despite this, very few free clinics are aimed at preventing and treating eye diseases. This may be explained by the idea that eye-related complications often require specialized training and equipment that many free clinics cannot afford. The goal of this investigation is to identify the prevalence of eye conditions in order to characterize the eye-care needs of the homeless population in the Kansas City area.
Methods :
Data was gathered via AthenaNet electronic medical records of 342 patients seen at The Kansas City Free Eye Clinic (KCFEC) from August 19, 2017 to October 22, 2018. Demographic information and diagnoses from all patients seen at KCFEC were analyzed for the most common diagnoses.
Results :
The demographics of this study include a mean age of 45.4 +- 13.6 years, 59% male and 41% female. The race distribution in this population was 40% white, 44% African American, 1% Native American, and 15% of patients declined to respond. Among this cohort of patients, there were 130 with myopia (38.0%), 83 with presbyopia (24.3%), 49 with hypermetropia (14.3%), 49 with astigmatism (14.3%), 35 with cataracts (10.2%), 21 with suspect glaucoma (6.1%) and 10 with diabetic retinopathy (2.9%).
Conclusions :
This data demonstrates that this population most commonly needs correction of refractive errors. However, there are cases in which more serious interventions are required, such as cataracts and glaucoma. In addition to refractive error, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in this population corresponds with national trends of 3% prevalence of retinopathy in the population, as estimated by the American Diabetes Association and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2006. Interestingly though, the cases of diabetic retinopathy were mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, our data shows that basic refractive services are required in this population– a task less daunting than management of chronic eye conditions. Identifying and correcting refractive errors could be an attainable goal for other clinics. Strengths of this study include large sample size and the unique mission of our clinic. Limitations of this study include possible errors in data entry into the electronic health record, and possible limitations of our diagnostic evaluations.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.