The COVID-19 Pandemic and Ophthalmic Care: A Qualitative Study of Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (nAMD)

Seán R. O’Connor, Charlene Treanor, Elizabeth Ward, Robin A. Wickens, Abby O’Connell, Lucy A. Culliford, Chris A. Rogers, Eleanor A. Gidman, Tunde Peto, Paul C. Knox, Benjamin J. L. Burton, Andrew J. Lotery, Sobha Sivaprasad, Barnaby C. Reeves, Ruth E. Hogg, Michael Donnelly and Study Group Monarch
Additional contact information
Seán R. O’Connor: School of Psychology, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Charlene Treanor: Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK
Elizabeth Ward: Bristol Trials Centre (CTEU), University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Robin A. Wickens: Bristol Trials Centre (CTEU), University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Abby O’Connell: Exeter Clinical Trials Unit (EXECTU), St. Lukes Campus, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LT, UK
Lucy A. Culliford: Bristol Trials Centre (CTEU), University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Chris A. Rogers: Bristol Trials Centre (CTEU), University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Eleanor A. Gidman: Bristol Trials Centre (CTEU), University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Tunde Peto: Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK
Paul C. Knox: Department of Eye and Vision Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK
Benjamin J. L. Burton: James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk NR31 6LA, UK
Andrew J. Lotery: Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK
Sobha Sivaprasad: NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London EC1V 2PD, UK
Barnaby C. Reeves: Bristol Trials Centre (CTEU), University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Ruth E. Hogg: Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK
Michael Donnelly: Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT12 6BA, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-10

Abstract: Concerns have been expressed about the relationship between reduced levels of health care utilisation and the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to elicit and explore the views of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and their ophthalmic care. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with thirty-five patients with nAMD taking part in a larger diagnostic accuracy study of home-monitoring tests. Participants were recruited using maximum variation sampling to capture a range of key characteristics including age, gender and time since initial treatment. Transcribed interview data were analysed using a deductive and inductive thematic approach. Three themes emerged from the analysis: i. access to eye clinic care. ii. COVID-19-mitigating factors and care delivery and iii. social and personal circumstances. Participants reported anxieties about cancelled or delayed appointments, limited communication from clinic-based services about appointments, and the impact of this on their ongoing care. Despite these concerns, there was apprehension about attending appointments due to infection risk and a perception that nAMD patients are a ‘high risk’ group. Views of those who attended clinics during the study period were, however, positive, with social distancing and infection control measures providing reassurance. These findings contribute to our understanding about experiences of patients with nAMD during the COVID-19 pandemic and may have potential implications for future planning of care services in similar circumstances. Innovative approaches may be required to address issues related to access to care, including concerns about delayed or cancelled appointments.

Keywords: COVID-19; patient perspective; ophthalmic care; qualitative methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9488/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9488/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9488-:d:878528

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().