Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Using Electronic Medical Record Data To Establish And Monitor The Distribution Of Refractive Errors, Sean Longwill, Michael Moore, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Objective

To establish the baseline distribution of refractive errors and associated factors amongst a population that attended primary care optometry clinics.

Design

Retrospective cross sectional cohort study of electronic medical records (EMR).

Methods

Electronic medical record data was extracted from forty optometry clinics, representing a mix of urban and rural areas in Ireland. The analysis was confined to demographic and clinical data gathered over a sixty-month period between 2015 and 2019. Distribution rates were calculated using the absolute and relative frequencies of refractive error in the dataset, stratified for age and gender using the following definitions: high myopia ≤ -6.00 …

Visual Factors Associated With Physical Activity In Schoolchildren, Síofra Harrington, John Kearney Prof, Veronica O'Dwyer Dr

Articles

Clinical relevance Physical activity is an essential part of childhood physical and mental development. Recent research identified visual problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle in children in Ireland.

Background This study explored the association between visual function in children and their engagement with physical activities outside school.

Methods Participants were 1,626 schoolchildren (728 aged 6–7 years, 898 old 12–13 years) in randomly selected schools in Ireland. Before data collection, parents/legal guardians of participants completed a standardised questionnaire reporting physical activity as no activity (mostly on screens), light activity (occasional walking/cycling), moderate activity (/week engaged in sports), or regular activity ( …

The Effect Of Transverse Ocular Magnification Adjustment On Macular Thickness Profile In Different Refractive Errors In Community-Based Adults, Hamed Niyazmand, Gareth Lingham, Paul G. Sanfilippo, Magdalena Blaszkowska, Maria Franchina, Seyhan Yazar, David Alonso-Caneiro, David Mackey, Samantha Sze-Yee Lee

Articles

Purpose Changes in retinal thickness are common in various ocular diseases. Transverse magnification due to differing ocular biometrics, in particular axial length, affects measurement of retinal thickness in different regions. This study evaluated the effect of axial length and refractive error on measured macular thickness in two community-based cohorts of healthy young adults.

Methods A total of 2160 eyes of 1247 community-based participants (18–30 years; 23.4% myopes, mean axial length = 23.6mm) were included in this analysis. Macular thickness measurements were obtained using a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (which assumes an axial length of 24.385mm). Using a custom program, retinal …

Application Of Big-Data For Epidemiological Studies Of Refractive Error, Michael Moore, James Loughman, John Butler, Arne Ohlendorf, Siegfried Wahl, Daniel Ian Flitcroft

Articles

Purpose

To examine whether data sourced from electronic medical records (EMR) and a large industrial spectacle lens manufacturing database can estimate refractive error distribution within large populations as an alternative to typical population surveys of refractive error.

Subjects

A total of 555,528 patient visits from 28 Irish primary care optometry practices between the years 1980 and 2019 and 141,547,436 spectacle lens sales records from an international European lens manufacturer between the years 1998 and 2016.

Methods

Anonymized EMR data included demographic, refractive and visual acuity values. Anonymized spectacle lens data included refractive data. Spectacle lens data was separated into lenses …

School Performance And Undetected And Untreated Visual Problems In Schoolchildren In Ireland; A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study, Síofra Harrington, Peter Davison, Veronica O'Dwyer

Articles

This study explored the association between children’s vision and their school academic progress as reported by parents/guardians. Participants were 1,612 schoolchildren (722 6-7-year-olds, 890 12-13-year-olds) in randomly selected schools in Ireland. In advance of data collection, parents/guardians reported school performance as (a) much better than classmates (high-performance) (b) about the same as classmates (average-performance) (c) not as well as classmates (low-performance). Measurements included logMAR monocular visual acuities (with spectacles if worn, and pinhole) in the distance (3 m) and near (40 cm); the amplitude of accommodation; stereoacuity, colour vision assessment, and cyclopleged autorefraction. Controlling for confounders, children presenting with visual …

The Relationship Between Serum Zinc Levels And Myopia, Niamh Burke, John Butler, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Clinical significance: Myopia is inherently associated with eye growth and thereby possibly amenable to nutritional influence. However, little attention has been given to possible die- tary influences. This study demonstrates that serum zinc does not play a role in myopia development. Background: Myopia is inherently associated with eye growth and thereby possibly amena- ble to nutritional influence. A number of Asian studies have reported lower levels of serum zinc in myopic children. This study was designed to assess the relationship between serum zinc and myopia in the Korean population – using a subsample of participants from nation- ally representative data.

Clinical Accuracy Of The Nidek Ark-1 Autorefractor, Nabin Paudel, Sameep Adhikari, Ajit Thakur, Bhairaja Shrestha, James Loughman

Articles

Autorefractors are commonly used by eye care practitioners worldwide as a starting point for clinical prescribing and by researchers as an instrument to study development of refractive errors and accommodation. This study demonstrates that the Nidek ARK-1 provides a reasonable and repeatable estimate of refractive error.

Ocular Biometry, Refraction And Time Spent Outdoors During Daylight In Irish Schoolchildren, Síofra Harrington, Veronica O'Dwyer

Articles

Background: Previous studies have investigated the relationship between ocular biometry and spherical equivalent refraction in children. This is the first such study in Ireland. The effect of time spent outdoors was also investigated.

Methods: Examination included cycloplegic autorefraction and non-contact ocular biometric measures of axial length, corneal radius and anterior chamber depth from 1,626 children in two age groups: six to seven years and 12 to 13 years, from 37 schools. Parents/guardians completed a participant questionnaire detailing time spent outdoors during daylight in summer and winter.

Results: Ocular biometric data were correlated with spherical equivalent refraction (axial …

Refractive Error And Visual Impairment In Ireland Schoolchildren, Síofra Harrington, Jim Stack, Kathryn Saunders, Veronica O'Dwyer

Articles

Aim To report refractive error prevalence and visual impairment in Republic of Ireland (henceforth 'Ireland') schoolchildren.

Methods The Ireland Eye Study examined 1626 participants (881 boys, 745 girls) in two age groups, 6–7 years (728) and 12–13 years (898), in Ireland between June 2016 and January 2018. Participating schools were selected by stratified random sampling, representing a mix of school type (primary/postprimary), location (urban/rural) and socioeconomic status (disadvantaged/advantaged). Examination included monocular logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) presenting visual acuity (with spectacles if worn) and cycloplegic autorefraction (1% Cyclopentolate Hydrochloride). Parents completed a questionnaire to ascertain participants’ lifestyle. …

Refractive Error And Visual Impairment In Ireland Schoolchildren, Siofra Harrington, Kathryn J Saunders, Veronica O'Dwyer, Jim Stack

Articles

To report refractive error prevalence and visual impairment in Republic of Ireland (henceforth 'Ireland') schoolchildren.

An Economic Analysis Of The Impact Of Refractive Error In Mozambique, Stephen Thompson

Conference Papers

Mozambique eyecare project carried out in June 2013 to estimate the socio-economic benefit of an Optometry Programme by calculating the benefits of addressing refractive error in terms of productivity gained as a result of the intervention.