The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel

Ariela Gordon-Shaag,1 Deena Rachel Zimmerman,2 Einat Shneor11Department of Optometry, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem 9101001, Israel; 2TEREM Emergency Medical Centers, Jerusalem 9546303, IsraelPurpose: Conjunctivitis is the most common ocular condition diagnosed at emergency departments (ED) i...

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Autores principales:	Gordon-Shaag A, Zimmerman DR, Shneor E
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Dove Medical Press 2019
Materias:	Conjunctivitis Urgent Care Centers Emergency Department Public Health Ophthalmology RE1-994
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/fd704540f4284f3680fcaba95f0e795b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:fd704540f4284f3680fcaba95f0e795b2021-12-02T13:15:15ZThe epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel1177-5483https://doaj.org/article/fd704540f4284f3680fcaba95f0e795b2019-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.dovepress.com/the-epidemiology-and-treatment-of-conjunctivitis-at-urgent-care-centre-peer-reviewed-article-OPTHhttps://doaj.org/toc/1177-5483Ariela Gordon-Shaag,1 Deena Rachel Zimmerman,2 Einat Shneor11Department of Optometry, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem 9101001, Israel; 2TEREM Emergency Medical Centers, Jerusalem 9546303, IsraelPurpose: Conjunctivitis is the most common ocular condition diagnosed at emergency departments (ED) in the USA, although it is generally not an emergent condition. Treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres (UCC) could offer lower cost than ED. This study describes the demographics and outcomes of a cohort presenting with conjunctivitis to a nationwide UCC system.Methods: This retrospective study included 17 branches of UCC. Electronic Medical Record data (November 2015–October 2016) of patients diagnosed with conjunctivitis or ocular disorder were retrieved. Data included gender, age, diagnosis, treatment, discharge status and temperature. Patients without conjunctivitis, presenting to UCC during this period served as the control. Results were compared to all ED patients in Israel (from a public report). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Z-proportion test were used.Results: Altogether, 602,074 patients presented to UCC, of which 5,045 (0.84%, 95% CI 0.74–0.94%) were diagnosed with conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis was more prevalent among young males (0–14, p<0.001) and older females. The conjunctivitis cohort at UCC was significantly younger than the ED cohort (p<0.01). UCC treated and released home 96.7% (95% CI 96.2–97.2%) of cases. This is significantly higher than the treatment rate for the entire UCC cohort (93.2%, CI 93.2–93.3%, p<0.05). Treatment in most cases (82.0%, 95% CI 80.9–83.0%) involved the prescription of ocular antibiotic.Conclusion: Similar to previous studies at ED, conjunctivitis patients are primarily young males. Most patients were treated with antibiotics at UCC and released home. This suggests that UCC may be a good venue for treatment of conjunctivitis.Keywords: conjunctivitis, urgent care centers, emergency department, public healthGordon-Shaag AZimmerman DRShneor EDove Medical PressarticleConjunctivitisUrgent Care CentersEmergency DepartmentPublic HealthOphthalmologyRE1-994ENClinical Ophthalmology, Vol Volume 13, Pp 771-779 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Conjunctivitis Urgent Care Centers Emergency Department Public Health Ophthalmology RE1-994
spellingShingle	Conjunctivitis Urgent Care Centers Emergency Department Public Health Ophthalmology RE1-994 Gordon-Shaag A Zimmerman DR Shneor E The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel
description	Ariela Gordon-Shaag,1 Deena Rachel Zimmerman,2 Einat Shneor11Department of Optometry, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem 9101001, Israel; 2TEREM Emergency Medical Centers, Jerusalem 9546303, IsraelPurpose: Conjunctivitis is the most common ocular condition diagnosed at emergency departments (ED) in the USA, although it is generally not an emergent condition. Treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres (UCC) could offer lower cost than ED. This study describes the demographics and outcomes of a cohort presenting with conjunctivitis to a nationwide UCC system.Methods: This retrospective study included 17 branches of UCC. Electronic Medical Record data (November 2015–October 2016) of patients diagnosed with conjunctivitis or ocular disorder were retrieved. Data included gender, age, diagnosis, treatment, discharge status and temperature. Patients without conjunctivitis, presenting to UCC during this period served as the control. Results were compared to all ED patients in Israel (from a public report). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Z-proportion test were used.Results: Altogether, 602,074 patients presented to UCC, of which 5,045 (0.84%, 95% CI 0.74–0.94%) were diagnosed with conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis was more prevalent among young males (0–14, p<0.001) and older females. The conjunctivitis cohort at UCC was significantly younger than the ED cohort (p<0.01). UCC treated and released home 96.7% (95% CI 96.2–97.2%) of cases. This is significantly higher than the treatment rate for the entire UCC cohort (93.2%, CI 93.2–93.3%, p<0.05). Treatment in most cases (82.0%, 95% CI 80.9–83.0%) involved the prescription of ocular antibiotic.Conclusion: Similar to previous studies at ED, conjunctivitis patients are primarily young males. Most patients were treated with antibiotics at UCC and released home. This suggests that UCC may be a good venue for treatment of conjunctivitis.Keywords: conjunctivitis, urgent care centers, emergency department, public health
format	article
author	Gordon-Shaag A Zimmerman DR Shneor E
author_facet	Gordon-Shaag A Zimmerman DR Shneor E
author_sort	Gordon-Shaag A
title	The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel
title_short	The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel
title_full	The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel
title_fullStr	The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel
title_full_unstemmed	The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel
title_sort	epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at urgent care centres in israel
publisher	Dove Medical Press
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/fd704540f4284f3680fcaba95f0e795b
work_keys_str_mv	AT gordonshaaga theepidemiologyandtreatmentofconjunctivitisaturgentcarecentresinisrael AT zimmermandr theepidemiologyandtreatmentofconjunctivitisaturgentcarecentresinisrael AT shneore theepidemiologyandtreatmentofconjunctivitisaturgentcarecentresinisrael AT gordonshaaga epidemiologyandtreatmentofconjunctivitisaturgentcarecentresinisrael AT zimmermandr epidemiologyandtreatmentofconjunctivitisaturgentcarecentresinisrael AT shneore epidemiologyandtreatmentofconjunctivitisaturgentcarecentresinisrael
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The epidemiology and treatment of conjunctivitis at Urgent Care Centres in Israel

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