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Abstract #105241 Published in IGR 23-3
Impact of Early COVID-19 Pandemic on Common Ophthalmic Procedures Volumes: A US Claims-Based Analysis
Azad AD; Mishra K; Lee EB; Chen E; Nguyen A; Parikh R; Mruthyunjaya POphthalmic Epidemiology 2022; 29: 604-612
PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the delivery of healthcare in the United States and globally. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on common ophthalmic procedure utilization and normalization to pre-pandemic daily rates. METHODS: Leveraging a national database, Clinformatics™ DataMart (OptumInsight, Eden Prairie, MN), procedure frequencies and daily averages, defined by Current Procedural Terminology codes, of common elective and non-elective procedures within multiple ophthalmology sub-specialties were calculated. Interrupted time-series analysis with a Poisson regression model and smooth spline functions was used to model trends in pre-COVID-19 (January 1, 2018-February 29, 2020) and COVID-19 (March 1, 2020-June 30, 2020) periods. RESULTS: Of 3,583,231 procedures in the study period, 339,607 occurred during the early COVID-19 time period. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections (44,412 to 39,774, RR 1.01, CI 0.99-1.02; = .212), retinal detachment repairs (1,290 to 1,086, RR 1.07, CI 0.99-1.15; = .103), and glaucoma drainage implants/trabeculectomies (706 to 487, RR 0.93, CI 0.83-1.04; = .200) remained stable. Cataract surgery (61,421 to 33,054, RR 0.77; CI 0.76-0.78; < .001), laser peripheral iridotomy (1,875 to 890, RR 0.82, CI 0.76-0.88; < .001), laser trabeculoplasty (2,680 to 1,753, RR 0.79, CI 0.74-0.84; < .001), and blepharoplasty (1,522 to 797, RR 0.71, CI 0.66-0.77; < .001) all declined significantly. All procedures except laser iridotomy returned to pre-COVID19 rates by June 2020. CONCLUSION: Most ophthalmic procedures that significantly declined during the COVID-19 pandemic were elective procedures. Among these, the majority returned to 2019 daily averages by June 2020.
Byers Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
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