Surgeon demographic and surgical volume trends in adult strabismus surgery in the United States

Abstract

To explore the influence of career stage, gender, and age on procedural trends of surgeons performing strabismus surgery. Data on ophthalmologists who performed strabismus surgery and on the Medicare beneficiaries who underwent surgery between 2012 and 2017 was retrieved from Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data. A total of 133 strabismus surgeons (78.9% male and 21.1% female) were reimbursed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for 10,598 strabismus procedures during the study period. The overall number of strabismus surgeries increased (P=0.039) over time. Most surgeons were 50-59years of age (n=45 [33.8%]), with an average age of 54.5±9.5years. The number of services per physician did not differ by gender (85±97 procedures/male surgeon and 60±149 procedures/female surgeon [P=0.13]). There was no difference in the gender proportion of physicians, with 0-9 post-fellowship years of experience (P=0.32), but there were significantly more men with 10-19 (P=0.003), 20-29 (P<0.001), and 30-39 (P<0.001) years of post-fellowship experience. There was no difference in the number of procedures performed between women and men 30-39 (P=0.83) or 60-69 (P=0.48) years of age; however, women 40-49 (P=0.009) and 50-59 (P<0.001) years of age performed significantly fewer procedures per surgeon than men. Women performed significantly fewer surgeries midcareer compared to their male counterparts.