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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2022; 14(02): e258-e262
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1758562
Research Article

Accuracy of Ophthalmology Clinic Follow-Up in the Incarcerated Patient Population

Michelle M. Abou-Jaoude
1   Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
,
Jessica Crawford
1   Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
,
Richard J. Kryscio
2   Department of Statistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
,
Daniel B. Moore
1   Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky
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Abstract

Purpose Incarcerated patients represent a uniquely vulnerable population in the outpatient ophthalmology setting, and the reliability of follow-up in this group is undetermined.

Methods This was a retrospective, observational chart review of consecutive incarcerated patients evaluated at the ophthalmology clinic of a single academic medical center between July 2012 and September 2016. For each encounter the following were recorded: patient age, gender, incarcerated status at the time of encounter (a subset of patients had encounters before/after incarceration), interventions performed, follow-up interval requested, urgency of follow-up, and actual time to subsequent follow-up. Primary outcome measures were no-show rate and timeliness, which was defined as follow-up within 1.5× the requested period.

Results There were 489 patients included during the study period, representing a total of 2,014 clinical encounters. Of the 489 patients, 189 (38.7%) were seen once. Of the remaining 300 patients with more than one encounter, 184 (61.3%) ultimately did not return and only 24 (8%) were always on time for every encounter. Of 1,747 encounters with specific follow-up requested, 1,072 were considered timely (61.3%). Factors significantly associated with subsequent loss to follow-up include whether a procedure was performed (p < 0.0001), urgency of follow-up (p < 0.0001), incarcerated status (p = 0.0408), and whether follow-up was requested (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion Almost two-thirds of incarcerated patients in our population requiring repeat examination were lost to follow-up, particularly those who underwent an intervention or required more urgent follow-up. Patients entering and exiting the penal system were less likely to follow-up while incarcerated. Further work is needed to understand how these gaps compare to those in the general population and to identify means of improving these outcomes.

Keywords

incarcerated - prisoner - prison medicine - lost to follow-up - outpatient follow-up


Publication History

Received: 22 January 2021

Accepted: 27 September 2022

Article published online:
19 November 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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