Abstract
Purpose :
To determine if socioeconomic status (SES) has an impact on traumatic open globe injury management and outcomes.
Methods :
Retrospective chart review was done for all patients with traumatic open globe injury presenting to our Level 1 Trauma Center between July 2010 and October 2019. SES was defined through employment status, education level, type of insurance, and income level. Patients’ charts were reviewed for their hospital course, including presenting and final visual acuity, mechanism of trauma, ocular complications, time lapse until hospital presentation, visit compliance, and medication compliance.
Results :
136 patients (male n=103, female n=33, average age 47.9 ± 18.2) were identified with traumatic open globe injury. The range of presenting visual acuity was 20/20-2 to no light perception. 61 patients were transferred from an outside facility. Patients aged 60 and above took longer to arrive to the hospital (OR 3.18) for treatment, and unemployed patients arrived faster (OR 0.20). Patients with a high school education or below (OR 8.71) and lower income (OR 3.32) were more likely to miss follow-up visits (Figures 1 and 2). Socioeconomic status did not have an effect on mechanism of injury, visual acuity or ocular complications.
Conclusions :
The research offers insight into the health disparities associated with open globe injury. Our study indicates that patients of lower SES have a higher risk of visit non-compliance. This can be a result of many external factors, including cost of transportation or inability to take time off from work. Improving our patients’ abilities to maintain follow-up appointments may be an area to focus preventive healthcare efforts.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.