Impact Of Covid-19 On Cataract Surgical Competency Of Ophthalmology Residents
Published 2023 - 41st Congress of the ESCRS
Reference: PP16.08 | DOI: 10.82333/37by-d684
Authors: Parya Abdolalizadeh* 1 , Leila Ghiasian 2 , SeyyedSaeed Aghili 2
1Ophthalmology,Urmia University of Medical Sciences,Urmia,Iran, Islamic Republic Of, 2Ophthalmology,Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran,Iran, Islamic Republic Of
To quantify the impacts of COVID-19 on ophthalmology residents’ performance in phacoemulsification
The study was conducted during pre-pandemic (2018-2019) and pandemic (2021-2022) time periods at a university-based hospital (Rassoul Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran)
This is a comparative study on ophthalmology residents of postgraduate year 4. The performances of residents in phacoemulsification were scored by a single faculty assessor using the International Council of Ophthalmology’s Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubric for phacoemulsification (ICO-OSCAR:phaco). The scores were compared between two groups
Seventy-one surgeries were rated in each group. All task-specific and global scores of pandemic group were lower than the pre-pandemic group (all P-values<0.001). The maximum intergroup difference was in capsulorrhexis circular completion (difference of 1.21 score, P<0.001) and tissue handling (difference of 1.21 score, P<0.001) among task-specific and global scores, respectively. The residents of two groups had the highest similarity in irrigation and aspiration (difference of 0.61 score, P<0.001) from task-specific scores and central eye position from global scores (difference of 0.93 score, P<0.001).
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the surgical competency of ophthalmology residents in phacoemulsification.