Oral

Vision health disparities exist among Americans with vision problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assesses and monitors vision health disparities through ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data in order to plan, implement, and evaluate efficacious and cost-effective public health interventions. National, state, and local data could help identify disparities in eye diseases, vision conditions, and access to eye care that can inform and advance national, state, and local policies. This session will describe the pros and cons of surveillance data including National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), Electronic Medical Records and Administrative Data (Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], Medicare, and managed care datasets) and how these data can be translated into real world practice.

Session Objectives: 1. Demonstrate the need to reduce vision health disparities in the U.S. 2. Demonstrate the usefulness of existing data to address vision health disparities. 3. Provide evidence for public health policy and decision making in achieving a population with healthy vision.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)