Petal: Basic, Clinical, & Translational Research 

Specialty: Ophthalmology

Key Words: Glaucoma, Health Disparities, Post operative. 

Background: Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy that can lead to permanent vision loss. There is a need for further understanding of the characteristics of glaucoma patients in safety net systems. 

Objective: This study aims to examine the demographic characteristics of individuals with glaucoma surgery in a Los Angeles safety net eye clinic.  

Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of patients seen between September 2022 and September 2023 at Olive View-UCLA. Patients were included with a confirmed diagnosis of glaucoma in the provider notes. Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe the characteristics of all glaucoma patients, along with the comparisons between patients who received glaucoma surgery and not. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine adjusted associations between demographic characteristics. Post operative complications after glaucoma surgery were also examined.

Results: The study included 355 participants. The mean±standard deviation (SD) of age was 61.0±13.2 years. A total of 286/355 (80.3%) identified as Hispanic, 31/355 (8.7%) identified as Asian, 20/355 (5.6%) identified as Non-Hispanic White, and 18/355 (5.1%) identified as Black. There were 251/355 (71%) who indicated Spanish as their primary language, and 104/355 (29%) who selected English. A total of 75/355 (21%) patients received glaucoma surgery. The largest proportion identified as Hispanic (62/75 [82.7%]). There were no statistically significant associations between any of the characteristics and the use of glaucoma surgery in multivariable logistic regression analyses. 18/75 (24%) participants had post operative complications.

Conclusion: Our preliminary results showed that the largest proportion of glaucoma patients in a safety net eye clinic and those who received surgery were Hispanic and primarily spoke Spanish. It may be beneficial to increase efforts on providing culturally sensitive patient care and education in patients’ primary language in the safety net system, so that glaucoma patients in the safety net system might have improved healthcare.