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. 2022 Dec;70(12):4238-4243.
doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_781_22.

Demographic profile of patients seeking teleophthalmology consultations through e-Sanjeevani: Retrospective analysis of 5138 patients from North India

Ashish Markan  1 , Alisha Kishore  1 , Amit Agarwal  1 , Madhuri Akella  1 , Aruna Singh  1 , Sonu Goyal  1 , Manaswita Roy  1 , Manvi Singh  1 , Meenu Singh  1
Affiliations

Demographic profile of patients seeking teleophthalmology consultations through e-Sanjeevani: Retrospective analysis of 5138 patients from North India

Ashish Markan et al. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To report the demographic profile of patients registered through e-Sanjeevani OPD seeking teleophthalmology services.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional data analysis of patients with ocular complaints registered through the e-Sanjeevani platform at a tertiary care center. It was a doctor-to-doctor consultation, where teleophthalmology consultants provided teleconsultation services at subcenters (SCs), primary health centers (PHCs), and community health centers (CHCs). Data regarding the patient's age, gender, residential address, provisional diagnosis, and treatment prescribed were recorded from May 2021 to February 2022 (9 months).

Results: In total, 5138 patients were teleconsulted from the mean age of the patients was 37.64 ± 19.34 years. Among these patients, 44% were males and 56% were females. Most of the teleconsultation calls were made from Palwal district (19.8%), followed by Hisar (14.5%) and Sonipat. The most common provisional diagnosis was dry eyes (21%), followed by allergic conjunctivitis (18%), refractive error (15%), and cataract (14%). These constituted approximately 70% of the diagnosis made through teleconsultations. The rest of the eye problems were diagnosed as stye, blepharitis, nasolacrimal duct obstruction, pterygium, subconjunctival hemorrhage, etc., The majority of the patients were managed medically (56.6%) and approximately 11.6% of the patients were referred for surgical intervention.

Conclusion: e-Sanjeevani is an effective way to provide teleconsultations to patients in remote locations. The majority of the patients seeking ophthalmology consultations can be managed conservatively. Patients requiring surgical intervention can be referred timely, thus avoiding any delay in treatment.

Keywords: e-Sanjeevani; hub and spoke model; national health mission; telemedicine; teleophthalmology.

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Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Snapshot of e-Sanjeevani application showing doctor’s dashboard with details of consultations made (a and b); line diagram showing weekly/monthly/yearly consultations made by the doctor (1c, upper panel); and bar graph showing minutes of video conferencing done by the doctor (1c, lower panel)
Figure 2
Figure 2
The printed prescription given to the patient showing chief complaints, provisional diagnosis, and treatment advised by the doctor
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bar graph showing district-wise distribution (in percentage) of teleconsultations made to our tertiary care center
Figure 4
Figure 4
Various images clicked using a smartphone and uploaded on e-Sanjeevani. The images were reviewed by teleophthalmologist and a provisional diagnosis of external hordeolum (a), spontaneous subconjunctival hemorrhage (b), and white cataract (c) was made
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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