Optometry in times of pandemic: Spanish flu (1919) versus COVID‐19 (2020)

Efron, Nathan; Efron, Suzanne

doi:10.1111/cxo.13094

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Based on this survey, optometrists appear to have embraced this cautionary approach to PPE; for example, despite only limited evidence for use of protective measures such as larger slit lamp breath guards against droplet exposure, many optometrists chose to employ this measure 53 . Use of PPE alone cannot, however, provide full protection against COVID‐19 and must be combined with other types of infection control 54 . As shown in Figure , respondents indicated precautions taken during face‐to‐face consultations to minimise close contact with the patient such as keeping the subjective refraction as simple as possible and/or the use of hand sanitiser at the start of the examination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…53 Use of PPE alone cannot, however, provide full protection against COVID-19 and must be combined with other types of infection control. 54 As shown in Figure 4, respondents indicated precautions taken during face-to-face consultations minimise close contact with the patient such as keeping the subjective refraction as simple as possible and/or the use of hand sanitiser at the start of the examination. This study highlights that while in more than 90% of cases, the decision whether to see a patient face-to-face was made by a GOC registrant, 33% of respondents reported feeling pressured to see patients they did not deem to be an emergency.…”

Section: Face-to-face Consultations Infection Control and Personal Pr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on working practices of UK primary care optometrists

Nagra

Allen

Norgett

et al. 2021

Ophthalmic Physiologic Optic

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Purpose In late 2019, a new coronavirus capable of infecting humans, SARS‐CoV‐2, was identified in Wuhan, China. The resultant respiratory disease was subsequently named COVID‐19. In March 2020, in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, primary care optometry practices only remained open to deliver essential or emergency eye care. This study aimed to characterise the experiences of United Kingdom (UK)‐based primary care optometrists during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods An email invitation to participate in an online cross‐sectional survey was sent to 3000 UK‐based, currently practicing members of The College of Optometrists (UK). Responses to the structured questionnaire were analysed using descriptive statistics, including frequencies, means and standard deviations. Frequency analyses were used to evaluate items with multiple responses. Free‐text responses were examined using thematic analyses. Results After data cleaning, a total of 1250 responses remained. Sixty‐three percent were female, 70% self‐identified as being of white ethnicity and 78% were based in England. During the first national lockdown, over half of all respondents were involved with the provision of remote consultations for emergency/urgent care. The majority felt ‘very’/‘moderately’ comfortable conducting remote consultations, but 66% felt professional liability was increased. Forty percent were involved in the provision of face‐to‐face consultations. Eye‐health and vision‐related problems were the most commonly reported patient issues during both remote and face‐to‐face consultations, while contact‐lens related problems were the least. Thematic analysis of the responses showed several challenges adjusting to the pandemic (e.g., working safely), but also some potential benefits (e.g., increased skills). Conclusions The findings provide an overview of changes to optometric practice in the UK during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The results may be used to inform the development of professional guidance and facilitate resource allocation for safe and effective eye care during this and any future pandemics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Face-to-face Consultations Infection Control and Personal Pr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on working practices of UK primary care optometrists

Nagra

Allen

Norgett

et al. 2021

Ophthalmic Physiologic Optic

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The current crisis can also be viewed as an opportunity for stronger institutional collaborations focusing on the delivery of digital-based solutions to the educational system (D 'Orville, 2020). Efron and Efron (2020) claim that similar strict measures were imposed during the Spanish flu outbreak in 1919. However, unlike during the situation in 1919, the advancement in technology has allowed for rapid dissemination of important information, thus improving intervention efforts.…”

Section: Educational Response To the 2020 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Qualitative Case Study of Gulf Coast Countries’ e-Learning Policies in the Era of COVID-19

Zeyab¹,

Almoosa²,

Albaqshi³

et al. 2021

IJLD

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Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been numerous disruptions of learning in recent history. In addition, educational systems are in crisis due to low-quality learning in terms of student outcomes in STEM fields, limited digital instructional resources for teacher training, and generally limited resources in low income countries. However, as of April 2020, nearly 85% of students worldwide were out of school; that is 1.6 billion children kept home due to school closures in 180 countries. This paper explores how the Gulf Coast Countries (GCC) reacted to the disruption of education in order to understand the deeper issues of the rules and operations of educational systems and to provide recommendations to improve current education policies.The COVID 19 pandemic has significantly affected day-to-day life in general and the learning setting in particular; this comes with temporarily closing schools, shutting down different campuses and learning institutions to maintain social distancing as has been advised by the national public health institutes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The new health measures have been forced on the world due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Most schools have integrated different types of technologies as an alternative method to facilitate the learning process.

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“…3 Within weeks, the virus had spread to multiple countries across the globe, making it a pandemic that could rival the scale and impact of the Spanish flu of 1919. 4 The first wave spread quickly to Europe and North…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitude and practices study regarding current COVID-19 pandemic in patients presenting to rheumatology clinic of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Khaliq

Shah

Saleem

et al. 2021

JSTMU

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Introduction: The most important step in controlling the spread of any communicable disease is to stick to preventive measures and COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Keeping this in mind, a KAP study was performed in the rheumatology unit of a tertiary care hospital of Islamabad. The main idea was to know the level of understanding of rheumatologic patients with respect to COVID-19 pandemic and its preventive measures. Objective: The objective of the study was to understand the knowledge, attitude and practices of rheumatologic patients towards COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study in which consecutive, non-probability sampling technique was used. Results: There were 37 males and 73 females in the study group, with mean age of 38.75±13.9 years. The total knowledge score was 17 points. It was found that 12 (10.9%) participants had poor knowledge regarding COVID-19, whereas 27 (24.5%) and 71 (64.5%) had good and excellent knowledge respectively. The total attitude score of study participants 7 points. It was found that 11 (10.0%) participants had poor attitude, whereas 72 (65.5%) and 27 (24.5%) had good and excellent attitude. The total practice score was 11 points. It was calculated that 30 (27.3%) study participants had poor practices regarding COVID-19 prevention, whereas 78 (70.9%) had good practices and only 2 (1.8%) had excellent practices. Conclusion: Overall, it was noted that KAP of our rheumatologic patients towards COVID-19 infection was reasonable, however, there is always room for improvement.

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Optometry in times of pandemic: Spanish flu (1919) versus COVID‐19 (2020)

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

The effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on working practices of UK primary care optometrists

The effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on working practices of UK primary care optometrists

A Qualitative Case Study of Gulf Coast Countries’ e-Learning Policies in the Era of COVID-19

Knowledge, attitude and practices study regarding current COVID-19 pandemic in patients presenting to rheumatology clinic of a Tertiary Care Hospital

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