Jonathon Q. Ng

Psychoactive Medications and Crash Involvement Requiring Hospitalization for Older Drivers: A Population-Based Study

OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between psychoactive medications and crash risk in drivers aged 60 and older.

Quality of life of the most severely vision‐impaired

Background:  To explore the interaction between vision impairment, perceived quality of life loss and willingness to trade remaining life for vision gain.

Quality of life after postoperative endophthalmitis

Purpose:  The aim of this study is to determine if postoperative endophthalmitis adversely affects quality of life after cataract surgery.

First eye cataract surgery and hospitalization from injuries due to a fall: A population-based study

To assess the association between first eye cataract surgery and hospitalization from injuries due to a fall in older adults at the population level.

Big data and ophthalmic research

Large population-based health administrative databases, clinical registries, and data linkage systems are a rapidly expanding resource for health research. Ophthalmic research has benefited from the use of these databases in expanding the breadth of knowledge in areas such as disease surveillance, disease etiology, health services utilization, and health outcomes. Furthermore, the quantity of data available for research has increased exponentially in recent times, particularly as e-health initiatives come online in health systems across the globe. We review some big data concepts, the databases and data linkage systems used in eye research-including their advantages and limitations, the types of studies previously undertaken, and the future direction for big data in eye research.

Impact of gender on first eye cataract surgery and motor vehicle crash risk for older drivers

Background:  No study to date has examined gender differences in crash risk after cataract surgery. Therefore, this study aimed to determine gender‐related differences in the effectiveness of first eye cataract surgery in reducing crash risk for older drivers.

Assessing the diagnostic validity of a blind register

Background:  To validate the accuracy of clinical ophthalmic information held on the West Australian blind register.

Changing patterns of access to cataract surgery: A population study spanning 22 years

Cataract surgery can prevent blindness but access to health services is often difficult for those living in rural and remote areas of Australia. This study investigated changes in cataract surgery relative to geographical and demographic status 1980-2001. Improved specialist ophthalmic services in rural and remote areas of Western Australia reduced the median distance travelled by patients but did not improve the rate of surgery. This suggests that factors other than distance also affect patient access to cataract surgery. Adequate access to cataract surgery by Aboriginal Australians was difficult to assess due to outdated prevalence data.

The effectiveness and cost-savings of first eye cataract surgery in reducing crash risk: a population based study

The present study examined the effectiveness of cataract surgery in terms of crash risk and associated costs on drivers aged 60 and older at a population level. A retrospective before and after comparison of all Police reported crashes which included fatal, hospitalisation, injury and property damage only (PDO) crashes, for patients who had undergone cataract surgery in the first eye was undertaken using linked data from the Western Australian Data Linkage System. An economic analysis by the type of crash was also undertaken on the cost savings from cataract surgery as a result of reducing crash risk for this group. Between 1997 and 2006, there were 27 827 patients in Western Australian who underwent cataract surgery in one eye only. Of this cohort, 1715 patients were involved in 1762 Police reported crash events, either 1 year before (n=941 crashes) or 1 year after cataract surgery (n=821 crashes). The results of the Poisson Generalised Estimated Equation analysis found a significant reduction of 13% (p<0.001) in all Police reported crashes frequency after accounting for all relevant covariates. The cost savings from this reduction in crashes amounted to

Techniques to Monitor for Endophthalmitis and Other Cataract Surgery Complications

4.3 million. The results of this study have provided some useful findings relating to the effectiveness and cost saving of first eye cataract surgery in reducing crash involvement for older drivers that will be useful both in future policy development and guide future research in this field.