Taking Steps to Advance Health Equity in Ophthalmology

Health care disparities have led to substantial differences in health outcomes for socially vulnerable populations. Ophthalmology is no exception. However, we are only beginning to identify and understand disparities in vision outcomes, risk for vision impairment, burden of severe disease, and eye care utilization. At the core of health disparities, more broadly, are structural inequities that have led to the maldistribution of social determinants of health (SDOHs) —the social, economic, and physical conditions in which people live, work, and play that affect health outcomes. To date, much of the existing literature on health disparities in ophthalmology has focused on individual-level SDOHs particularly in the domains of economic stability, education access and quality, and health care access and quality. For example, in corneal diseases, individual-level disparities have been identified for surgical outcomes after corneal transplants, access to different types of transplants, and keratoconus treatment. However, neighborhood-level SDOHs, for example n eighborhood and built environment, and social and community context, are critical determinants of health outcomes as well.
Source: JAMA Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research