Factors associated with eye care in Canada

From 2016 to 2019, 75% of people diagnosed with diabetes visited an eye care professional during the previous year. While it is well known that diabetes is a condition that requires regular visits to an eye specialist, less is known about the need for visits by people without diabetes. The article "Sociodemographic and endogenous factors associated with access to eye care in Canada, 2016 to 2019" used data from two cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey to assess the importance of factors, such as the presence of an eye disease or encouragement by a doctor, and sociodemographic variables to the likelihood of having visited an eye specialist in the previous year.

Rates of eye care visits varied by age, at 57% for those aged 6 to 18 years, 40% for those aged 19 to 64 years, and 63% for those aged 65 to 79 years. For people not diagnosed with diabetes, wearing glasses was a factor associated with having seen an eye care professional in the previous year.

Although wearing glasses or having eye diseases was associated with a visit to an eye care professional, this study revealed additional associated factors—such as access to a family doctor—for people aged 6 to 64 years and an excellent or very good self-perceived quality of life for those aged 65 to 79 years.

In the 19- to 64-year-old age group, those with Indigenous identity were less likely to have visited an eye care professional than those without Indigenous identity. Those living in a household with an income of $100,000 or more also had a greater likelihood of having visited an eye care professional. Indigenous identity and income were not factors in the other age groups.

The Daily