OBJECTIVE: The availability and distribution of the eye care workforce are essential to reach the goals of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness. This study assessed the trends in the availability and distribution of eye health professionals and eye care infrastructure in 2 southern Indian states: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study used a pretested questionnaire to gather data for the year from 2012 to 2013. Data for 2002 to 2003 were collected from available historical records. The questionnaires were pretested in a pilot study conducted before the main survey. Pretested questionnaires were administered to all eye care professionals-ophthalmologists (n=1712) and midlevel ophthalmic personnel (MLOP; n=1250)-eye care facilities with ≥10 inpatient beds or performing ≥100 cataract surgeries per annum (n=640), local nongovernmental eye care organizations (n=182), and international eye care organizations (n=10). Data were collected for 2 different time periods: the baseline year of 2002 to 2003 and the target year of 2012 to 2013. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 19.0.
RESULTS: The response rates were 81.1% (519/640) for eye care facilities, 96.1% (1645/1712) for ophthalmologists, and 67.6% (845/1250) for MLOP. From 2002-2003 to 2012-2013, there has been an increase in eye care facilities, from 234 to 519 (121.8%); ophthalmologists, from 935 to 1712 (83.1%); and MLOP, from 767 to 1250 (63%). The ophthalmologist:population ratio improved from 1:88,260 in 2002-2003 to 1:51,468 in 2012-2013. The MLOP:population ratio improved from 1:168,283 in 2002-2003 to 1:138,117 in 2012-2013 but still falls short of the ideal number.
CONCLUSIONS: Both southern Indian states are able to meet the requirements for ophthalmologists and eyecare infrastructure as per the goals of VISION 2020. However, the number of MLOP falls short of the ideal ratio for the population. This study has some limitations. For example, most of the data collected through questionnaires were based on self-report, which might introduce bias due to memory recall or over or under-reporting of certain information. However, this was addressed by cross-checking the collected data with information from supplementary sources.
目标:眼保健人员的可用性和分布对于实现“视觉2020:视力”的目标至关重要。消除可避免失明的全球倡议。这项研究评估了印度南部两个州:安得拉邦和特兰甘纳邦(Telangana)的眼部健康专业人员和眼部护理基础设施的可用性和分布趋势。
方法:这项横断面研究使用预先测试的问卷来收集2012年至2013年的数据。2002年至2003年的数据是从现有的历史记录中收集的。在主要调查之前进行的一项试点研究中对问卷进行了预先测试。对所有眼保健专业人员-眼科医生(n=1712)和中级眼科人员(MLOP;n=1250)-每年住院床位≥10张或进行≥100例白内障手术的眼保健机构(n=640)进行预先测试的问卷,当地非政府眼科护理组织(n=182),和国际眼保健组织(n=10)。收集了两个不同时间段的数据:2002年至2003年的基准年和2012年至2013年的目标年。使用SPSS19.0版进行数据分析。
结果:眼部护理机构的反应率为81.1%(519/640),96.1%(1645/1712)的眼科医生,MLOP为67.6%(845/1250)。从2002-2003年到2012-2013年,眼部护理设施有所增加,从234到519(121.8%);眼科医生,从935到1712(83.1%);和MLOP,从767到1250(63%)。眼科医生:人口比率从2002-2003年的1:88,260提高到2012-2013年的1:51,468。MLOP:人口比率从2002-2003年的1:168,283提高到2012-2013年的1:138,117,但仍未达到理想数字。
结论:印度南部两个州都能够按照VISION2020的目标满足眼科医生和眼科护理基础设施的要求。然而,MLOP的数量低于人口的理想比例。本研究有一定的局限性。例如,通过问卷收集的大多数数据都是基于自我报告,这可能会由于记忆回忆或某些信息的过度或漏报而导致偏见。然而,通过交叉检查收集的数据和补充来源的信息来解决这一问题。