Disparities in Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Vision Impairment
Disparities in Access to Medical Care for Individuals with Vision Impairment
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DOI：
10.3109/09286580902999439
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发表时间：
2009-01-01
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
Wolff, Jennifer L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Spencer, Christine;Frick, Kevin;Wolff, Jennifer L.
目的：研究失明与视力障碍及就医途径之间的关系。方法：使用2002-2004年医疗支出小组调查(MEPS)的汇总数据来确定40岁以上的非住院个人是否有自我报告的失明、视力障碍或无视力障碍(n=40,643)。在对MEP的复杂抽样设计进行调整后，使用双侧z检验或双侧t检验，评估了视力状况在获得护理措施方面的差异。结果：失明和视力障碍患者报告了更多与护理费用、保险覆盖范围的可用性、交通问题以及提供者拒绝服务有关的获取问题，尽管他们没有报告与没有视力障碍的人相比，拥有正常护理来源的比率更低。结论：结果表明，由于政策干预的原因，盲人和视力障碍患者获得护理的机会是有问题的。
Purpose: We investigated the relationship between blindness and vision impairment and access to medical care. Methods: Pooled data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) years 2002-2004 were used to identify non-institutionalized individuals over the age of 40 with either self-reported blindness, vision impairment, or no vision impairment (n = 40,643). Differences in access to care measures by vision status were assessed, after adjusting for the complex sampling design of the MEPS, using either two-sided z-tests or two-sided t-tests. Results: Individuals with blindness and vision impairment report having more access problems related to cost of care, availability of insurance coverage, transportation issues, and refusal of services by providers, although they do not report lower rates of having a usual source of care compared to those without vision impairment. Conclusions: The results suggest that access to care for individuals with blindness and vision impairment is problematic, for reasons that are amenable to policy interventions.