Abstract
Purpose :
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been an ongoing area of study in scientific, clinical, and pharmaceutical communities. Although it is known that many in medical fields developed COVID, it is unknown how COVID has involved eyecare professionals. The purpose of this study is to evaluate COVID involvement in eyecare professionals.
Methods :
In this cross-sectional study, an anonymous questionnaire survey was distributed among eyecare professionals. Their experiences with COVID exposure, testing, and infection were evaluated.
Results :
92 eyecare professionals answered the survey, consisting of 25 ophthalmologists, 7 ophthalmology residents, 6 optometrists, 48 ophthalmic technicians, and 6 ophthalmology clinic administrative staff. These included 33 men and 56 women; 3 preferred not to disclose their sex. The mean age was 42.0 ± 12.2 years (range, 21-75 years). Of these, 11 (12.0%) have been COVID positive with symptoms, and none were COVID positive without symptoms. The positive rate was 0% in ophthalmologists, ophthalmology residents, and optometrists, 20.8% in ophthalmic technicians, and 16.7% in administrative staff. Of people without COVID (n=81), 15 (18.5%) had been exposed to a COVID-positive individual, 39 (48.1%) had tested negative for COVID, and 27 (33.3%) had not yet been tested for COVID.
Conclusions :
Only a small percentage of eyecare professionals have developed symptomatic COVID. The rate of symptomatic COVID was significantly lower in ophthalmologists, ophthalmology residents, and optometrists evaluated in this study compared to the general population. Such low rates may be due to using proper protective measures, including suitable workplace protocols.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.