An international survey of optometric management of stroke survivors

A survey was conducted to describe the current status of optometric awareness and involvement regarding post-stroke management as literature suggests that visual impairment often goes undiagnosed and unmanaged in stroke survivors. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers, pilot tested by 5 other optometric researchers and 15 optometrists and modified based on the feedback. Practicing optometrists were invited to complete the anonymous online survey through optometric organizations in Canada, Hong Kong, India, UK, and US. Results showed that the majority of optometrists (61%) see 1–5 post-stroke patients per month, although 15% report seeing none. In all cases, optometrists referred stroke patients to other health care professionals more often than receiving incoming referrals from them. About 21% of all respondents were already fully involved in post-stroke vision care and 57% were interested in being more involved. Limiting factors to seeing more post-stroke patients included resources (29.8%), funding (25.8%), awareness (25.1%), and interest (9.8%). There was consensus among respondents in all countries that optometrists should be members of post-stroke care teams. Optometrists are well suited to provide post-stroke visual rehabilitation but are often not included in care teams for these patients. As a result, the visual management of post-stroke patients often is unaddressed.

本研究开展一项调查，旨在描述卒中后管理领域的视光认知与参与现状——既往研究文献显示，卒中幸存者的视觉损伤常未得到诊断与干预。研究者开发了一套调查问卷，经5名视光研究人员与15名在职视光医师预试验，并根据反馈意见进行修订。研究人员通过加拿大、中国香港、印度、英国及美国的视光行业组织，邀请在职视光医师完成该匿名在线问卷。调查结果显示，多数视光医师（61%）每月接诊1至5名卒中后患者，另有15%的受访者表示从未接诊过此类患者。所有场景中，视光医师将卒中患者转诊至其他医疗专业人员的频率，均高于接收来自其他方的转诊。约21%的受访者已全面参与卒中后视觉照护工作，57%的受访者表示希望进一步参与此类工作。接诊更多卒中后患者的限制因素包括资源不足（29.8%）、经费短缺（25.8%）、认知不足（25.1%）以及兴趣欠缺（9.8%）。各国受访者均达成共识：视光医师应成为卒中后照护团队的正式成员。视光医师具备提供卒中后视觉康复服务的能力，但常未被纳入此类患者的照护团队，因此卒中后患者的视觉管理往往未得到有效落实。