"Patients with newly diagnosed glaucoma who have less wealth or reside in rural communities are less likely to receive standard glaucoma care compared to wealthier patients, according to a recent multi-institution study published in JAMA Ophthalmology. Dustin French, PhD, professor of Ophthalmology and of Medical Social Sciences in the Division of Determinants of Health, was a co-author of the study and principal investigator of the Northwestern Medicine study site."
"The disease is more commonly diagnosed in adults over the age of 55 and disproportionately affects Black patients compared to white patients. In the current study, investigators aimed to determine possible associations between various nonmedical variables, including self-reported race and ethnicity, urbanicity of residence, affluence of patients' residential community and presence of children in the household, and their association with the patient's quality of glaucoma care."
More than 4 million people in the U.S. have glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide caused by increasing intraocular pressure that damages the optic nerve and can lead to vision loss. Associations between nonmedical variables (self-reported race and ethnicity, urbanicity, community affluence, and presence of children) and glaucoma care quality were evaluated using data from over 1,400 patients with newly diagnosed glaucoma who received care at academic systems in the SOURCE Consortium from January 2010 to December 2022. The cohort averaged 70 years of age and was 54% female (3% Asian, 32% Black, 7% Latinx, 57% white). Primary outcomes included likelihood of at least 15% intraocular pressure reduction at 12–18 months. Patients with lower wealth or rural residence were less likely to receive standard glaucoma care.
Read at News Center
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]