Abstract
Purpose :
Despite the individual and societal benefits of Low Vision Services (LVS), a discrepancy in the need and uptake of LVS has been reported internationally. Little is known about the characteristics and healthcare utilization of adult visually impaired people who receive LVS. This study aims to identify these parameters to explore LVS user profiles.
Methods :
A retrospective cohort study based on a Dutch national health insurance claims database. Claims data from 2015 till 2018 of all visually impaired adults (aged 18 years or older) who received LVS at Dutch multidisciplinary organizations were examined. Descriptive statistics were used to assess socio-demographic characteristics (age, sex, socio-economic status, region), clinical characteristics (ophthalmic diagnosis, comorbidity) and healthcare utilization (ophthalmic and other medical care utilized in hospitals, general practitioner care, mental healthcare, low vision aids). Separate descriptive analyses were performed for different diagnosis groups within LVS patients.
Results :
Between 2015-2018, 49,726 unique patients received LVS. The amount of unique patients that utilized LVS decreased with 16% between 2015 and 2018. The majority was aged 60y or older (62%, mean 65y), were female (54%), had a middle (38%) or low (38%) socio-economic status and lived in urban areas (51%). Most common ophthalmic conditions were macular degeneration (AMD, 22%), cataract (21%), subretinal neovascularization (15%) and primary glaucoma (11%). Half of the patients were treated for only one ophthalmic condition.
Of all patients, 86% utilized general practitioner care, 69% ophthalmic care, 54% low vision aids, 41% cardiovascular care, 22% audiological care and 12% mental healthcare at least once. Of LVS patients who utilized specialized mental healthcare, most people were treated for depression 19% and/or anxiety 12%.
Conclusions :
Our study shows that patients of LVS are mostly female elderly with retinal disease and (comorbid) cataract. The decrease in LVS uptake might be explained by increased deductible health insurance and new innovative treatments for ophthalmic conditions that can cause low vision. Future research needs to further examine differences in patterns between LVS users and non-users.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.