This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (10)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Ophthalmology  • Ophthalmological Disorders  • Glaucoma  • Ophthalmological Disorders, Other  • Primary Care/ Family Medicine  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Clinical Applications

Caroline L. Goldzweig, MD, MSHS; Susannah Rowe, MD, MPH; Neil S. Wenger, MD; Catherine H. MacLean, MD, PhD; Paul G. Shekelle, MD, PhD

JAMA. 2004;291:1497-1502.

Clinicians in primary care settings are well positioned to participate in the prevention and management of visual disability. They can have a significant impact on their patients' visual health by screening for vision problems, aggressively controlling known risk factors for visual loss, ensuring adherence to ophthalmologic treatment and continuity of eye care, and by timely referral of specific patient populations to qualified eye care professionals (eg, ophthalmologists and optometrists). Using their knowledge about common ophthalmic medications, clinicians can detect adverse effects of these agents, including exacerbations of heart or lung disease. They can ensure that appropriate patients are screened for common serious eye diseases, such as glaucoma, and that patients with disabilities related to vision problems are assessed for treatable conditions, such as cataracts or refractive error. Finally, clinicians can direct patients with low vision from any cause to resources designed to help enhance patient function and emotional support.

Author Affiliations: Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Los Angeles, Calif (Drs Goldzweig and Shekelle); Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (Drs Goldzweig, Wenger, MacLean, and Shekelle); Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass (Dr Rowe); and RAND Health, Santa Monica, Calif (Drs MacLean and Shekelle).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Preventing Visual Loss From Chronic Eye Disease in Primary Care: Scientific Review
Susannah Rowe, Catherine H. MacLean, and Paul G. Shekelle
JAMA. 2004;291(12):1487-1495.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Diabetes Mellitus and Visual Impairment: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2004
Zhang et al.
Arch Ophthalmol 2008;126:1421-1427.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT