The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #55813

Alan R. Morse, PhD, President and CEO, The Jewish Guild for the Blind, 15 West 65th Street, New York, NY 10023, 212-769-6215, armorse@jgb.org, Raymond R. Arons, DrPH, School of Public Health, Columbia University, 600 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, and Elaine S. Yatzkan, PhD, Director, Quality Assurance and Compliance, The Jewish Guild for the Blind, 15 West 65th Street, New York, NY 10023.

This study reports on an analysis of data from the National Center for Health Statistics National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) which measures physician/patient encounters in a national probability sample of 27,369 patient encounters with 1,388 physicians. For the year 2000 this yielded a full-population estimate, when weighted, of 823.5 million encounters. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS and, to adjust for type I errors (false positives), SUDAAN was employed. Our data included identification and analysis for those patients whose care included visual acuity and glaucoma examinations. In addition, we studied those patients whose major reason for a physician visit was an eye-related complaint, as well as physician diagnosis and treatment outcomes and the use of nutritional counseling, an important adjunct in the treatment of diabetes. Use of medications, ambulatory procedures performed, and the proportion of eye-related complaints attributable to accidents, are also reported. Additionally, we studied and analyzed visits to ophthalmologists as well as other sub-specialties to determine where eye care is most likely to occur. The study reports on demographic, racial, ethnic, geographic, and payor status differences in care.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to:
• Better understand who provides eye care to the nation's population.
• Identify the prevalence of eye complaints secondary to other diagnoses.
• Evaluate the differences and disparities that exist in identifying and treating vision complaints.
• Identify who currently provides diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Vision Care, Access to Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.