Study of the influence of care overburden on the indication for glaucoma surgery

• Published in: Acta ophthalmologica (Oxford, England) Vol. 102; no. S279
• Main Authors: Angulo, Cristina García‐Velarde, Aroco, Clara Lara, Blazquez, Javier Guzmán, Martínez, Teresa Pérez
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Eye surgery; Glaucoma; Information processing; Patients; Sex ratio; Statistical analysis; Surgery
• ISSN: 1755-375X; 1755-3768
• DOI: 10.1111/aos.16223

Aims/Purpose: The indication for glaucoma surgery is a long process. Includes decision, information and administrative procedures. The purpose of the work is to study the factors different than the strictly clinical ones that condition the indication for surgery.
Methods: Retrospective study, consecutive sampling of glaucoma surgery indication with the variables age, sex, time of indication, number of patients attended per day and ratio indications/number of patients seen per day, type of glaucoma, type of surgery and physician who indicated it. The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to determine normality and the Kruskal‐Wallis test. The correlation between the ratio of surgeries and the total number of patients seen on the day (Sperman correlation) was measured.
Results: 131 surgeries were analysed, collected in 82 days of consultation during a year. The patients reviewed were 2886, of the annual total of 5255. The surgeries were indicated by 4 specialists and by residents. The mean age was 69.24 ± 13.49 years. The mean ratio of indication to the number of patients seen that day was 4.74% and the ratio to the total number of patients seen per year was 2.49%. The mean number of patients per day was 35.20 ± 13.20. The hourly distribution of the indications was: 3.1% between 8–9 h, 26% 9–10 h, 16% 10–11 h, 19.8% 11–12 h, 17.6% 12–13 h, 10.7% 13–14 h and 6.9% between 14–15 h. There were no significant differences in the ratio of indication per hour of indication (p = 0.318) or regarding the doctor (p = 0.295). There were significant differences between specialists with respect to the number of patients treated (p = 0.02). The correlation data were moderate and presented a statistically significant inverse relationship (p = −0.455), with a tendency towards fewer indications for glaucoma surgeries the more patients there are in consultation.
Conclusions: The care overload can influence the decisions when indicating glaucoma surgery.