Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the relative prevalence of ocular risk factors for eye disease and its association with sociodemographic factors in underserved communities within the greater Chicagoland area.
Methods :
We did a retrospective analysis of vision and glaucoma screenings performed by the Student Sight Savers (SSS) Program across 7 Chicago Congressional districts between 2006 and 2012. The screenings included assessment of Visual Acuity with correction, intraocular pressures (IOP), optic disc exam with cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio, frequency doubling perimetry (FDP), optic nerve imaging and on-site fundus photos, if fappropriate, risk factors (RF) for ocular disease including ethnicity, age, family history of glaucoma, diabetes, hypertension, ocular injury, and last eye exam. Evaluation and exit interview by an ophthalmologist was performed when appropariate and further follow-up was recommended if needed. The data was analyzed using ANOVA, Chi-square, and generalized mixed linear models (GLM). District data was obtained from census.gov.
Results :
SSS screened 1260 patients of which 51.2% were referred for definitive ophthalmologic exam. Of those referrals, 47% were African American (AA), with Hispanics following at 36%. There was a significant correlation between AA patients and glaucoma referrals, +0.9 (p=0.000%). Overall median income was $94k ± $27k, 11% fell below the poverty line and 8% had no health coverage. Multivariate GLM was conducted on the data to ascertain if there were significant differences between ethnicity, district and glaucoma. Ethnicities correlated with districts. Glaucoma or ophthalmic referrals were prevalently given to patients in black and hispanic communities, with higher percentages among those with no insurance and below the poverty line.
Conclusions :
AA and Hispanics constituted the majority of referrals for ophthalmic exams. AA race positively correlated with referrals for ocular RF for glaucoma. Education and access to care are needed to rectify the disparity in visual health across socioeconomic and ethnic groups in the Chicagoland Area.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.