Sociodemographic Factors Influencing Utilisation of Eyecare in the New South Wales community

1. Blanka Golebiowski¹
2. Ulrike Stahl¹
3. Lisa Keay^1,2
4. Fiona Stapleton¹

¹School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
²The George Institute for Global Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

Purpose:
Regular eye examination is vital for early diagnosis of sight-threatening disease and prevention of unnecessary vision loss. This study aimed to determine rates of eye care utilisation in the general community in NSW and to explore factors influencing non-utilisation.

Methods:
Telephone interviews were conducted with 500 NSW residents over 40yo who had accessed eye care within the past 5 years and 300 who had not. Socio-demographic predictors of non-access were evaluated using multiple regression models.

Results:
7% of respondents had not attended an optometrist or ophthalmologist within 5 years and 2% had never accessed eye care. Respondents who had not accessed eye care within 5 years or never were more likely to be male (OR 2.41), younger than 50yo (OR 2.75), in full-time employment, (OR 1.46) with dependent children (OR 2.90) and less likely to hold private health insurance (OR 2.08) or live in an accessible location (ARIA class) (OR 1.61), when compared with those who had attended eye care. When population attributable risk (PAR) was considered, the factors with greatest influence on non-utilisation of eye care in this population were being male (PAR 40%), not holding private health insurance (PAR 28%), having dependent children (PAR 26%), and being younger than 50yo (PAR 20%). No significant differences were evident for education level, household income or country of birth.

Conclusions:
Public health campaigns to improve uptake of services and thus prevent vision loss should have greatest impact if targeted at males, those younger than 50, and those with dependent children.