Prevalence of chronic disease in older adults in multitier eye-care facilities in South India: Electronic medical records-driven big data analytics report

• DOI: 10.4103/ijo.ijo_621_21
• Publication Date: 2021-11-30T11:54:59Z
• Authors: Umesh Chandra Behera; Brooke Salzman; Anthony Vipin Das; Gumpili Sai Prash...; Parth Lalakia; Richard Derman; Bharat Panigrahy
• Keywords: Family Medicine; visual impairment; 610; India; Cataract; chronic diseases; socioeconomic status; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; eye-care service; retinopathy; Medicine and Health Sciences; Prevalence; Electronic Health Records; Humans; Special Focus, Epidemiology, Original Article; Aged; Retrospective Studies; geriatrics; Diabetic Retinopathy; Data Science; Glaucoma; RE1-994; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Ophthalmology; glaucoma; cataract; Chronic Disease

Purpose: To study the prevalence of systemic conditions in older adults, either self-reported or discovered during routine eye examinations, at multitier eye-care facilities over the past decade, and to explore their association with vision and common ocular disorders, including cataract, glaucoma, and retinopathy.

Methods: Retrospective review of a large data set compiled from the electronic medical records of patients older than 60 years who presented to an eye facility of a multitier ophthalmology network located in 200 different geographical locations that included urban and rural eye-care centers spread across four states in India over a 10-year period.

Results: 618,096 subjects aged 60 or older were identified as visiting an eye facility over the 10-year study period. The mean age of the study individuals was 67·28 (±6·14) years. A majority of older adults (66·96%) reported being free of systemic illnesses. Patients from lower socioeconomic status had a lower prevalence of chronic systemic disease, but the presenting vision was poorer. Hypertension (21·62%) and diabetes (18·77%) were the most commonly reported chronic conditions in patients who had concomitant systemic illness with visual concerns.

Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic systemic illnesses in older adults presenting to multitier eye-care facilities is relatively low, except in those with diabetic retinopathy. These observations suggest a need to include active screening for common chronic diseases in standalone eye-care facilities to achieve a more accurate assessment of chronic disease burden in the older population.