Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37407054›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2023

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic control measures on amblyopia treatment: a retrospective study of records from a tertiary eye hospital in China.

Jing Liu, Qingqing Ye, Chutong Xiao, Yijing Zhuang, Lei Feng, Yunsi He, Zixuan Xu, Yusong Zhou, Xiaolan Chen, Ying Yao and 7 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.

Jing Liu *State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.ORCID 0000-0002-5276-9669
Qingqing Ye *State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Chutong Xiao *Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, USA.
Yijing ZhuangState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Lei FengState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yunsi HeState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Zixuan XuState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yusong ZhouState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Xiaolan ChenState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1581-5045
Ying YaoState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Rengang JiangState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yangfei PangState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Wentong YuState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yun WenState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.ORCID 0000-0002-3703-0049
Junpeng YuanState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Benjamin ThompsonSchool of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada lijingr3@mail.sysu.edu.cn ben.thompson@uwaterloo.ca.
Jinrong LiState Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China lijingr3@mail.sysu.edu.cn ben.thompson@uwaterloo.ca.
Sun Yat-sen University · CNUniversity of California, Irvine · USUniversity of Waterloo · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAmblyopia is the most common cause of unilateral visual impairment in children and requires long-term treatment. This study aimed to quantify the impact of pandemic control measures on amblyopia management. DESIGN AND

settingThis was a retrospective cohort study of data from a large amblyopia management database at a major tertiary eye care centre in China.

participantsOutpatients with amblyopia who visited the hospital from 1 June 2019, through 28 February 2022. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the number of first and follow-up in-person visits to the hospital for amblyopia treatment. Secondary outcomes included the time interval between consecutive visits and improvement of vision (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and stereopsis). Patient records were grouped into prepandemic and during pandemic periods.

resultsA total of 10 060 face-to-face visits for 5361 patients (median age 6.7 years, IQR 5.4, 8.9) that spanned two lockdown periods were included in the analysis, of which 28% were follow-up visits. Pandemic control measures caused a sharp decline in the number of outpatient visits (3% and 30% of prepandemic levels in the months directly after the start of the first (2020) and second (2021) periods of pandemic control measures, respectively). However, these drops were followed by pronounced rebounds in visits that exceeded prepandemic levels by 51.1% and 108.5%, respectively. The interval between consecutive visits increased significantly during the pandemic from a median (IQR) of 120 (112, 127) days in 2019 to 197 (179, 224) in 2020 (p<0.001) and 189 (182, 221) in 2021 (p<0.001). There were no significant differences in the improvement of visual function or treatment compliance between the prepandemic and postpandemic groups.

conclusionsThe number of amblyopia patient hospital visits spiked well above prepandemic levels following lockdown periods. This pattern of patient behaviour can inform planning for amblyopia treatment services during and after public health-related disruptions.

Indexed as

AmblyopiaCOVID-19ChildChinaCommunicable Disease ControlHumansPandemicsRetrospective StudiesTertiary Care CentersTreatment OutcomeCOVID-19paediatric ophthalmologypublic health

Identifiers

PMID37407054
PMCPMC10335509
OpenAlexW4383215658

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.