Abstract
Purpose :
A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the prevalence of eye conditions and visual impairment within the residential aged care population. A secondary aim was to summarise the frequency of use of eye mediations that are administered to residents.
Methods :
Four databases, the grey literature and the reference lists of relevant studies were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies published in English since January 2003. Prospective and retrospective primary studies were included if they considered all aged-care residents as the denominator and estimated the prevalence of one or more eye conditions, visual impairment, or blindness or the frequency of use of ophthalmic medicines (or a combination of 2 or more of these outcomes). Title and abstract screening of 1,112 and full-text review of 33 studies was conducted using Covidence. The quality of the studies was evaluated by the AXIS tool,. Data regarding study design and key findings were extracted to an excel spreadsheet. All steps were performed by two independent reviewers and disagreements were resolved by discussion with another author.
Results :
Eighteen studies were included from 10 countries involving 26,763 residents (range 131 to 8,685). The most prevalent eye disease reported was cataracts, followed by age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, dry eye, and blepharitis. The prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in residents ranged from 18.7 to 57.3% and 1% to 36.1%, respectively. Few studies (n=3) investigated ocular medicines usage. Lubricants were used most frequently (9.4% to 25.6%) followed by topical anti-glaucoma eyedrops (5.4% to 11%). A single study reported that 4.8% of residents were prescribed topical anti-infective eyedrops. Risk of bias was judged to be moderate to high for the majority (13 of 18) of studies. Studies estimated prevalence from eye examinations, questionnaires or surveys, interviews, or by extracting information from medical records or health insurance data.
Conclusions :
Eye diseases and vision impairment are highly prevalent in residential aged care, suggesting the need for dedicated capabilities in these settings. These findings may be explained in part by pre-existing conditions prior to entry, barriers to access to eyecare services, and prioritisation of co-morbidities.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.