Journal article
Ocular Telehealth Screenings in an Urban Community
Telemedicine journal and e-health, Vol.18(2), pp.95-100
03/01/2012
DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2011.0067
PMID: 22283358
Abstract
The current U.S. economic recession has resulted in a loss of income, housing, and healthcare coverage. Our major goal in this socioeconomic setting was to provide ophthalmic remote health screenings for urban soup kitchen and homeless populations in order to identify and refer undetected vision-threatening disease (VTD). We assessed visual acuity, blood pressure, pulse/oxygen saturation, body mass index, and intraocular pressure for 341 participants at soup kitchens as part of the homeless outreach program in Newark, NJ. History of diabetes, hypertension, and smoking, last ocular examination, and ocular history were noted. Imaging was performed with an 8.2 megapixel non-mydriatic retinal camera with high-speed Internet ready for off-site second opinion image evaluation. Positive VTD findings were identified in 105 participants (31%) (mean age, 53.6 years), of whom 78% were African American, 73% males, and 62% smokers. We detected glaucoma in 34 participants (32%), significant cataract in 22 (21%), diabetic retinopathy in 5 (5%), optic atrophy in 1 (1%), age-related macular degeneration in 1 (1%), and other retinal findings in 43 (41%). The incidence of VTDs was higher among this cohort than among study groups in previous screenings (31% vs. 12%). This finding shows an increase in ocular morbidity in a younger, at-risk population with elevated rates of hypertension, diabetes, and smoking. Functional visual impairment was 2.5 times higher than the national average (16% vs. 6.4%). Comprehensive, community-based screenings can provide more sensitive detection of VTDs in high-risk groups with low access to ophthalmic care and can be an integral part of recession solutions for improving healthcare.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Ocular Telehealth Screenings in an Urban Community
- Creators
- Khadija Shahid - 2The Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New JerseyAnton M Kolomeyer - 1New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New JerseyNatasha V Nayak - 1New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New JerseyNura Salameh - 1New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New JerseyGina Pelaez - 3Rutgers University, Newark, New JerseyAlbert S Khouri - 1New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New JerseyThomas T Eck - 1New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New JerseyBen Szirth - 2The Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Telemedicine journal and e-health, Vol.18(2), pp.95-100
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
- DOI
- 10.1089/tmj.2011.0067
- PMID
- 22283358
- ISSN
- 1530-5627
- eISSN
- 1556-3669
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/01/2012
- Academic Unit
- Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9983980070902771
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