RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Barriers to uptake of referral eye care services among the elderly in residential care: the Hyderabad Ocular Morbidity in Elderly Study (HOMES)
JF British Journal of Ophthalmology
JO Br J Ophthalmol
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
SP 1184
OP 1189
DO 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2021-320534
VO 107
IS 8
A1 Marmamula, Srinivas
A1 Kumbham, Thirupathi Reddy
A1 Modepalli, Satya Brahmanandam
A1 Chakrabarti, Subhabrata
A1 Keeffe, Jill Elizabeth
YR 2023
UL http://bjo.bmj.com/content/107/8/1184.abstract
AB Background To report on the barriers to uptake of eye care services after referral in the elderly in ‘homes for the aged’ in Hyderabad, India.Methods Individuals aged ≥60 years were recruited from 41 ‘homes for the aged’ and were examined in the ‘make-shift’ clinics in homes. All participants who had vision impairment or needed further eye examination other than spectacles were referred to the higher centres for ‘free services’. Three months after the referral, the participants were interviewed and asked about the uptake of services, and their reasons for not attending.Results In all, 731/1182 (61.8%) participants were referred of which 375 (49.9%) attended. In multiple logistic regression, participants aged ≥80 years were less likely to utilise the services (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.39 to 0.03). Similarly, the participants living in free homes (OR 3.53; 95% CI 2.15 to 5.79) and subsidised homes (OR 2.24: 95% CI 1.55 to 3.23) and those independently mobile had higher odds for uptake of services (OR 5.74; 95% CI 3.31 to 10.51). The major reasons for not availing the referral services were ‘lack of felt need’ reported by 136 (45.4%) participants followed by other health issues in 100 (33.4%) participants and non-consenting family members in 49 (16.4%) participants. In all, 14 (4.7%) participants gave other reasons.Conclusions The uptake of eye care services in the elderly in residential care remains poor despite the provision of services for free. Lack of felt need for services is the main reason for non-compliance to the referral for care. Counselling on the benefit of interventions could potentially improve referral compliance in this population.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information. Not applicable.