Analysis on the characteristics and contributing factors of ophthalmic online consultation during the COVID-19 epidemic

Abstract

AIM: To analyze the demands, patterns and contributing factors of the patients involved in the ophthalmic on-line during the COVID-19 epidemic to provide reference for the optimization of the ophthalmic online health care system METHODS: Prospective observational study The patients using expert online consultation provided by the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from February 1 to March 15, 2020 were enrolled The baseline characteristics were analyzed For the patients with repeated consultation, we randomly selected the same amount of patients with single as comparison The baseline characteristics, purposes, disease types, and number of combined eye diseases between the patients with single and repeated were compared, and the contributing factors of patients'consultation pattern were analyzed with statistical test and regression model RESULTS: The expert online consultation provided 9 831 consultations during the study, 3 919 of which were single while 5 912 of which came from the repeated consultations of 1 967 patients 1 967 patients with single were randomly selected and compared with the repeated inquirers The main purposes in the both groups were (59 7%, 64 9%) There was no significant difference in age and gender distribution between the patients with single online visit and repeated online visits(P=0 897, 0 482) Compared with the patients with single visit, the patients with repeated visit were less with the purpose of discomfort, more with the purpose of and follow-up after more with ocular surface, fundus and uveal diseases, and more with two or more combined eye diseases Regression analysis showed that the patients with ocular refractive issues tended to have a single consultation, while the patients inquired on previous eye disease and surgery, with fundus or uveal disease tended to have repeated consultations The number of repeated visits for the patients with diagnosed ophthalmopathy and ophthalmic surgery was higher than that for the patients with new-onset discomfort;the number of repeated visits was lower for the patients with lens and anterior segment diseases, and was higher for the patients with ocular surface diseases CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 epidemic, the main purpose of on-line ophthalmic was return visit for the diagnosed eye diseases Type of eye disease, purpose and number of combined ophthalmopathies all affected whether the patients repeated the and the repeated times The arrangement of ophthalmologists in different sub-specialties should be adjusted according to the patients' needs and their patterns