Eyes of a Hurricane: The Effect of Hurricane Harvey on Ophthalmology Consultations at Houston’s County Hospital

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize ophthalmology consultations ordered after Hurricane Harvey compared to consultations ordered during the same time period of the prior year. A retrospective chart review was performed at an urban, level 1 trauma center of a county hospital. All patients were included who received an electronic health record, documented ophthalmology consultation order between September 2017 and October 2017 (the time period immediately following Hurricane Harvey) or September 2016 and October 2016. Patient demographic risk factors were collected. Patient ICD10 clinical diagnoses were categorized as extraocular, intraocular, infectious, physiological, or other, and then subcategorized as trauma or non-trauma-related. A geographical heat map was generated to compare the changes in diagnosis volume by zip code to the magnitude of rainfall in the county. Following Hurricane Harvey, ophthalmology consultation volume decreased, number of infectious ophthalmology diagnoses increased (P < 0.001), percentage of patients on immunosuppression increased (P < 0.001), and the number of private insurance payers increased while the number of county-funded insurance payers decreased (P = 0.003). The risk of infectious eye diagnosis was double the risk of traumatic eye diagnosis from Hurricane Harvey flooding. During public disaster planning, different ophthalmological medical resources and responses should be considered for flooding versus high-wind events.