Abstract
Purpose :
Individuals who meet certain criteria are eligible for a Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI) in England and Wales. We explored monthly certifications from Jan 2017 to Dec 2021 to investigate any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods :
CVI forms are sent to the Certifications Office at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Numbers of CVI forms received per month from January 2017 to December 2021 were analysed. Means and standard deviations as well as maximum and minimum numbers of monthly certification forms were calculated for each calendar year. The average for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 for each calendar month was calculated, and numbers for each calendar month of 2020 and 2021 were expressed as a proportion of this average.
Results :
Mean (SD) monthly certification forms received were 2115 (208), 2229 (386), 2245 (187) for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2020, the mean (SD) was 1624 (741) certifications; in 2021, the mean (SD) was 2012 (277) certifications. Monthly certifications were consistently greater than 1800 in the years 2017 to 2019, but in 2020, certifications fell drastically in April, May and June (607, 509 and 539 certifications respectively). Monthly certifications were below 1800 also in July and August of 2020 (1231 and 1267 certifications respectively) and in Jan and Feb of 2021 (1580 and 1579 certifications respectively). When expressed as a proportion of the average of the same calendar month in 2017-2019, monthly certifications were below 30% in April, May and June of 2020. For all other months in 2020 and 2021, the proportion remained above 75% of the average for 2017-2019.
Conclusions :
We found a marked (>70%) reduction in certification forms received in April, May and June of 2020, coinciding with the first national lockdown. As certifications can enable access to support, this is another manifestation of the consequences of the pandemic for patients with vision loss. A similar magnitude reduction was not seen for subsequent lockdowns.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.