Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul-Aug;84(4):339-344.
doi: 10.5935/0004-2749.202100103.

Latin American ophthalmology practitioner's perception on current COVID-19 pandemic

Nora Lucía Oliva Castillo  1 , Evelyn Del Busto Wilhelm  1 , Martin Arturo Zimmermann Paiz  1 , Ana Marissa Ordóñez Rivas  1 , Nancy Carolina Quezada Del Cid  1 , Verónica Yaneth Burgos Elías  1 , Edison Leonardo Montes Villalva  1
Affiliations

Latin American ophthalmology practitioner's perception on current COVID-19 pandemic

Nora Lucía Oliva Castillo et al. Arq Bras Oftalmol. 2021 Jul-Aug.

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

Purpose: To assess the perception of Latin American ophthalmology practitioners regarding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposure risk, knowledge about personal protection measures, and prioritization of patients.

Methods: Self-administered voluntary anonymous survey (Google Drive forms) was distributed via text message to ophthalmology practitioners from May 01 to May 05, 2020.

Results: Three hundred seventy-one practitioners (45% response rate) comprising 118 (27.6%) residents, 111 (40.5%) ophthalmologists, and 142 (32.8%) sub-specialists completed the survey. Among them, 106 (32.6%) thought that they were at a high risk of acquiring COVID-19 during the course of work. Furthermore, 273 (69.1%) believed that the current guidelines were insufficient to identify COVID-19 patients. The survey also revealed that 265 (59.5%) were not trained to use personal protective equipment (PPE), and even with its correct use, 341 (91.5%) still felt that they were at risk of acquiring COVID-19. Moreover, 80% of the respondents were of the view that staff members were not knowledgeable about national protocols for attending COVID-19 patients. However, only 9 (2%) considered changing their profession to ameliorate COVID-19 contagion risk.

Conclusion: This survey has revealed the issues faced by ophthalmology practitioners in Latin America during their routine practice. These concerns and anxiety about COVID- 19 pandemic seem to be the same worldwide. It is important to reinforce the confidence of ophthalmology practitioners on current guidelines for attending COVID-19 patients. It is also necessary to conduct training programs on PPE usage and ensure that PPE items are available at all times to enhance the quality of care and minimize the spread of the disease.

Objetivos: Avaliar a percepção do risco de exposição da Doença de Coronavírus 2019 (COVID-19), conhecimento sobre medidas de proteção pessoal entre os profissionais de oftalmologia latino-americanos e priorização de pacientes com Covid-19.

Métodos: Pesquisa anônima voluntária autoadministrada (formulários do Google Drive) distribuída por mensagem de texto para profissionais de oftalmologia em 1º a 5 de maio de 2020.

Resultados: Trezentos e setenta e um profissionais completaram a pesquisa (taxa de resposta de 45%), composta por 118 residentes (27,6%), 111 oftalmologistas (40,5%) e 142 subespecialistas (32,8%). 106 profissionais (32,6%) sentiram-se em alto risco de adquirir o COVID-19 no trabalho. 273 (69,1%) acreditavam que as diretrizes atuais não são suficientes para identificar os pacientes com COVID-19. 265 (59,5%) não tinham treinamento para usar os equipamentos de proteção individual (EPI) e, mesmo com seu uso correto, 341 (91,5%) ainda se sentiram em risco de adquirir COVID-19. 80% consideraram que a equipe de trabalho não tem conhecimento de protocolos nacionais para o atendimento aos pacientes com COVID-19. Apenas 9 dos profissionais (2%) consideraram mudar a profissão para minimizar o risco de contágio por COVID-19.

Conclusão: Esta pesquisa mostra a escassez de pessoal e treinamento específico que os praticantes de oftalmologia na América Latina enfrentam em sua prática diária. Essas preocupações e ansiedade parecem ser as mesmas em todo o mundo com a pandemia de COVID- 19. É importante reforçar a confiança dos profissionais de oftalmologia nas diretrizes atuais de atendimento ao paciente com COVID-19 e também disponibilizar programas de treinamento sobre o uso de EPI e também itens de EPI disponíveis em todos os momentos para garantir a qualidade do atendimento e a disseminação mínima da doença.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest: None of the authors have any potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

References

    1. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Press Releases Center of Health Protection (CHP) closely monitors cluster of pneumonia cases on Mainland. [cited 2020 May 2]. Available from: http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201912/31/P2019123100667.htm .
    1. Zhou P, Yang XL, Wang XG, et al. A pneumonia outbreak associated with a new coronavirus of probable bat origin. Nature. 2020;579:270–273. - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization (WHO) Rolling update on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Genève: WHO; [updated July 31, 2020]. 2020. [cited May 2 2020]. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/events-a... .
    1. Vetter P, Vu DL, L’Huillier AG, Schibler M, Kaiser L, Jacquerioz F. Clinical features of COVID-19. BMJ. 2020;369:m1470. - PubMed
    1. Lai T, Tanh E, Chau S, Fung K, Li K. Stepping up infection control measures in ophthalmology during the novel coronavirus outbreak: an experience from Hong Kong. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2020;258(5):1049–1055. - PMC - PubMed