Abstract
Background/Objectives
To characterise the patterns of presentation and diagnostic frequencies in Hospital Emergency Eye Care Services (HEECS) across 13 hospitals in England.
Methods
Retrospective, cross-sectional, observational multi-centre (n = 13) study to assess HEECS attendances over a 28-day study period. Data derived included: number of consecutive attendances, patient demographics and diagnoses. Age and gender variations, the impact of day of the week on attendance patterns, diagnostic frequencies and estimates of the annual incidence and attendance rates were evaluated.
Results
A total of 17,667 patient (mean ± standard deviation age = 49.6 ± 21.8 years) attendances were identified with an estimated HEECS annual new attendance rate of 31.0 per 1,000 population. Significantly more females (53%) than males (47%) attended HEECS (p < 0.001). Female attendances were 13% higher in those ≥50 years of age. Weekends were associated with a significant reduction in attendances compared to weekdays (χ2 = 6.94, p < 0.001). Among weekdays, Mondays and Fridays were associated with significantly higher attendances compared with midweek (χ2 = 2.20, p = 0.032). Presenting pathologies involving the external eye, cornea and conjunctiva accounted for 28.6% of the caseload.
Conclusion
This is the largest multicentre study assessing attendance patterns in HEECS in England. We have, for the first time, observed a “weekend effect” in relation to attendance to HEECS. Differences in health-seeking behaviour and lack of awareness of HEECS weekend services may be partly attributed to the differences observed. Our findings, along with the type of presentations, have the potential to guide commissioners with future planning of HEECS.
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Acknowledgements
MGT is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR, CL-2017-11-003). HJK is supported by Medical Research Council (MRC), London, UK (MC_PC_17171). The sponsor or funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of this research.
Funding
MGT is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR, CL-2017-11-003). HJK is supported by Medical Research Council (MRC), London, UK (MC_PC_17171). The sponsor or funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of this research. Supplementary information is available on Eye’s website.
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DS, AS, JB, and SV were responsible for study conceptualisation and design. IDS, AS, JYK, RC, SA, RP, FB, RR, PD, FW, BW, LC, DS, FD, BEECS study group, JB and SV were responsible for data collection. IDS, MGT, AS, HJK, and JB were responsible for data analysis and interpretation. JYK, RC, RP, FB, and RR contributed to the literature review. IDS, MGT, AS, and JB prepared the original draft of the paper. All authors contributed to critical review, editing, and revisions of the paper.
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De Silva, I., Thomas, M.G., Shirodkar, Al. et al. Patterns of attendances to the hospital emergency eye care service: a multicentre study in England. Eye 36, 2304–2311 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-021-01849-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-021-01849-8
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