A US study of eyecare professionals’ (ECPs) geographical distribution found for every extra ECP per 100,000 residents, there was a statistically significant decrease of 3.90 people with visual impairment per 100,000 residents.
The research team, led by medical student Karissa Wang and Assistant Professor Victoria Tseng from the University of California, used the visual impairment data of more than 30 million Californians from the American Community Survey, plus the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s 2018 membership list and the optometrists listed in the 2020 Blue Book of Optometrists, to evaluate ECPs’ numbers and locations relative to residents. Overall, they found there were 22.18 ECPs per 100,000 residents and a visual impairment prevalence of 2,411 residents per 100,000 residents. Breaking down those figures for each of California’s 542 medical service study areas, San Francisco scored top with 39.24 ECPs per 100,000 population, while areas whose residents’ income fell below 150% of the federal poverty level were significantly associated with visual impairment due to more limited access to care.
