Tele-ophthalmology and conventional ophthalmology using a mobile medical unit in remote Greece.
We evaluated the quality of medical services delivered to remote glaucoma patients from a mobile unit. A four-wheel-drive vehicle containing the necessary equipment visited five different remote locations in Greece. During a three-year prospective study, 1205 patients were examined, of whom 230 had glaucoma. The majority of the subjects were examined by the unit's medical staff using the available instrumentation (e.g. slit-lamp and tonometer), while 56 glaucoma subjects were telemedically examined by consultants at the Patissia General Hospital, in Athens. Control data were obtained from a random sample of 260 urban glaucoma patients. A significantly greater proportion of the remote patients had an inadequate awareness of glaucoma (77%) compared with the urban patients (20%). Significantly more remote patients had poorer compliance (68%) in comparison with urban patients (23%). A significantly larger proportion of the remote patients had high intra-ocular pressure (21%) compared with the urban patients (5%). Technical difficulties occurred in the 13 of the 56 telemedical examinations. Mobile medical units can enhance access to medical services and contribute to the health-care of under-served populations.
Intermedico Network, Division of Medical Informatics, Athens, Greece. labiris@usa.net
G
G
Labiris
M
M
Fanariotis
C
C
Christoulakis
A
A
Petounis
G
G
Kitsos
M
M
Aspiotis
K
K
Psillas
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000628:therapy*; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008952:Mobile Health Units; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*