Impact of COVID 19 Lockdown on Ophthalmic Practices in India

Introduction: The WHO (World Health Organization) declared COVID-19, a worldwide pandemic caused by a novel variant of the corona virus 2019-nCoV, as a worldwide pandemic in 2020. As a preventative step, the Indian government imposed a countrywide lockout for 21 days, restricting people's movement. During the shutdown, a study was devised and completed to analyze the impact on eye care and patient care in India. Methods: Through various social media platforms, an online survey was sent to the practice of Indian ophthalmologists. We arranged and analyzed all of the validated responses.

Summary: The poll received responses from 1260 ophthalmologists. 61.5 percent of respondents worked in a private clinic, whereas 14.8 percent worked in an eye institute. Due to the lockdown of those who were still evaluating patients at the time of the poll, 72.5 percent of respondents did not perceive any patients, and 82.9 percent (287/347) were only looking at emergency cases, based on their own clinical judgement. The percentage of ophthalmologists who were still examining patients in eye facilities, municipal and government hospitals (49.8%) was significantly higher (p0.0001) than in private clinics. Other procedures that were still being performed included intravitral injections, in addition to causes such as trauma, retinal detachment, and endophthalmities (81.8 percent) (9.1 percent) and cataract surgery (5.9%). Since the lockdown began, around 77.5 percent of respondents have begun telephone, e-mail, video call, or social media application counseling. Furthermore, 59.1% said that when examining patients, ophthalmologists were at a larger risk of getting COVID-19 than other disciplines. When asked when they would resume practice when once restrictions were relaxed 57.8% of respondents said they were unsure when they would resume elective surgery In addition, 62.8% percent said they were unsure of the preferred screening strategy or precautionary approach before beginning surgery and were awaiting guidelines.

Conclusion: According to our research, most ophthalmologists in India were unable to assess patients during the COVID-19 lockdown, and many of them had to undergo elective surgery. 27.5 percent of those who responded to the emergency room were ophthalmologists. To aid patients, ophthalmologists had shifted to telephonic guidance or other forms of telemedicine. Whether the COVID-19 reduced regulations, most responding ophthalmologists were unsure when and how to resume operations. Regulatory agencies should be aware of this and give appropriate guidelines.