SAN FRANCISCO–Today the American Academy of Ophthalmology and its partners launched a new initiative, EyeSmart™ EyeCheck, to combat undetected eye disease and visual impairment among at-risk populations in the United States. The initiative comes as new data from the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES) show that Latinos have higher rates of visual impairment, blindness, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts than non-Hispanic whites. EyeSmart™ EyeCheck will focus initially on the Latino community.
"What's important about the LALES research is that it underscores the fact that eye disease affecting quality of life remains undetected in far too many individuals," said David W. Parke II, MD, CEO of the Academy. "Vision is one of our most valued and precious senses. Even seemingly small degrees of visual impairment can impact our daily activities, mobility and quality of life. It does not have to be this way, and ophthalmologists are going to do something about it."
Through EyeSmart™ EyeCheck, the Academy and its partners will raise awareness and understanding of the impact of eye disease and visual impairment, particularly among minority populations who disproportionately lack access to care. Working with state ophthalmology and subspecialty societies, hospitals and eye institutes and community organizations, the Academy's EyeSmart™ EyeCheck will:
- Test a screening methodology for adults, EyeCheck, that will focus on detecting damage from eye diseases, rather than diagnosing each specific disease. Studies suggest this approach is likely to be effective.
- Pilot and facilitate free screenings to help identify undiagnosed visual impairment and eye disease among populations at greatest risk and with limited access to health care services; the first screening will be in July in the Los Angeles area.
- Build and host, on the EyeSmart™ website, a national inventory of community eye screenings that use the EyeCheck approach.
- Provide referrals to eye care and bi-lingual eye health information at the screenings as well as online.
The LALES data reported in the May 2010 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology reveal the high incidence of visual impairment and declining visual acuity among Latinos. These rates are higher than any other racial/ethnic group studied in the United States. LALES is supported by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.
"The study shows that it's not just a single eye disease, but a host of undetected eye diseases, each of which has a significant impact on the quality of vision and quality of life among Latino people," said Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, principal investigator of LALES and director of the Ocular Epidemiology Center at the Doheny Eye Institute, University of Southern California.
The incidence of multiple diseases in this and other at-risk populations prompted the Academy to adopt and promote a different approach to adult vision screenings.
"Traditional adult vision screenings typically check for a specific disease like glaucoma or cataracts," said Anne L. Coleman, MD, PhD, director of the Academy's H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., M.D. Center for Quality Eye Care, and the Fran and Ray Stark Professor of Ophthalmology and Professor of Epidemiology at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. "To get the greatest benefit from a screening, it makes sense to broadly assess functional impairment in a sequential process. This will allow us to screen more individuals in a given time period, much like triage in an emergency room, where more serious cases are quickly referred on for care."
"Finding eye disease is an important first step," said Robert Smyth-Medina, MD, a Los Angeles-based ophthalmologist and an Academy clinical correspondent. "EyeSmart™ EyeCheck is taking the next step by linking patients with care options."
The first pilot screening will take place July 25 in partnership with the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, the USC Doheny Eye Institute, the California Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons, the Los Angeles Society of Ophthalmology and QueensCare, a nonprofit healthcare charity offering health care services to the Los Angeles community and sponsor of the health fair. Later screenings will be coordinated by EyeSmart™ EyeCheck in partnership with state and local ophthalmic organizations, health departments, medical centers and community clinics.
The Academy's EyeSmart™ EyeCheck program will also work with EyeCare America and local health departments and community clinics to help people with eye disease or vision problems access appropriate care. EyeCare America, a service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, offers free eye care services to people who qualify: www.eyecareamerica.org. People are referred to one of the 7,000 ophthalmologists across the United States who volunteer their time.
About the American Academy of Ophthalmology The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons—Eye M.D.s—with more than 29,000 members worldwide. Eye health care is provided by the three "O's" – opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye surgery. To find an Eye M.D. in your area, visit the Academy's Web site at www.aao.org.
Journal
American Journal of Ophthalmology