The Impact of Virtual Follow-Ups on Patient Outcomes after Cataract Surgery: A Systematic Review

Theme: Cataract surgery*
What: Cataract surgery
Part of: Cataract III: Innovations and research in cataract surgery / Cataracte III: 3. Innovations et recherches en chirurgie de la cataracte
When: 6/2/2024, 11:15 AM - 12:45 PM
Where: Room | Salle 801

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this review was to examine the current literature on the association between virtual post-operative follow-up care and patient outcomes after cataract surgery.

Study Design: Systematic review.

Methods: Medline, Embase and CINAHL were searched in October 2023 for relevant articles containing original data. Studies that: 1) included patients that were seen in a virtual follow-up (i.e., telephone or video call) for postoperative appointments after cataract surgery, and 2) reported patient outcomes were included. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize findings.

Results: The search yielded 1710 records, and a total of 1174 underwent title/abstract screening after de-duplication. Twenty-three full texts were assessed for eligibility and seven studies were included in the review. The seven included studies reported on 2113 cataract surgeries in 1994 patients. The studies ranged in date between 2004 and 2020. Most of the studies (6/7) included only patients who had uncomplicated cataract surgery. The telephone follow-up calls were made at varying timepoints including post-operative day 1 (n= 3), post-operative day 7 (n=2) and post-operative day 14 (n=1). Virtual follow-ups were conducted by telephone with either ophthalmologists, nurses or ophthalmic technicians making the calls. Three studies directly compared patients who had a telephone follow-up to a control group of patients who had an in-person follow-up. There were no significant differences in complication rates or visual acuity between these follow-up groups. None of the studies reported serious adverse outcomes as a result of replacing in-person follow-ups with telephone follow-ups. One study used virtual follow-ups on postoperative days 1, 4, 10 and 20 in conjunction with in-person visits for elderly patients, which was associated with decreased surgical recovery time and patient feelings of anxiety and worry. Three of the seven studies reported on patient perceptions about the use of telephone follow-ups. A common theme was that patients preferred telephone reviews and found them to be more convenient than in-person follow-ups.

Conclusions: For patients with uncomplicated cataract surgery, virtual follow-ups seem to be a safe alternative to in-person visits and are well-liked by patients. Given the limited literature base, further study is needed.

Presenter(s)

Presenting Author: Angelica Hanna

Additional Author(s):

Diana Lucia Martinez, Prism Eye Institute

Marko Popovic, University of Toronto

Iqbal Ahmed, Prism Eye Institute

Joshua Teichman, Prism Eye Institute

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