Practice Patterns of Canadian Ophthalmological Society Members in Cataract Surgery—Survey 2013
Narrative Responses:
Purpose
This was the fifth annual survey on the practice patterns of Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) members in Cataract Surgery.
Methods
In January 2013 an e-mail with a link to Fluid Surveys was sent from the COS office to its 286 members who had indicated their practice focus to be cataract surgery. The survey had 30 questions. A reminder e-mail was sent 3 weeks later. Approval for the survey was obtained from the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region Research Ethics Board. All responses were collected anonymously.
Results
There were 79 responses (27.6%). The results of the 5 surveys were compared. The increase in both the use of Topical anesthesia with intracameral xylocaine preoperatively and the use of a combination steroid and NSAID eye drops postoperatively were maintained. There was an increase in the use of hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses (IOL) in the last 3 years; from 61% in 2011 to 72% in 2013. The vast majority of respondents who corrected astigmatism at the time of cataract surgery used a Toric IOL to do so. This has increased significantly from 57.2% in 2009 to 94% in 2013.
Conclusion
Over the last five years the majority of the practice patterns in cataract surgery of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society members have not changed significantly. However there were certain areas where definite trends were observed and maintained.