UC Davis

Background: Pediatric glaucoma is a treatable condition that can cause potential blindness. Social factors such as insurance and loss-to-follow-up visits are rarely addressed as risk factors in studies of visual outcome. To assist in visualizing the data in a novel way, GIS (geographic information system) will be used to visualize patient outcomes by location and other social risk factors.

Methods:The study is a retrospective cohort study of pediatric glaucoma patients seen at UC Davis. The primary outcome of the study is visual acuity, and basic demographic data as well as social factors were also recorded. The patients were initially mapped to their 3-digit zip code prefix, and statistical analysis was performed to identify significant risk factors to poor visual outcome. Results: In the multivariate analysis, the odds of having a good vision score are 53% lower in Females compared to Males (p-value = 0.04). The number of patients, visual outcomes and select risk factors were mapped and shown in the figures in the manuscript, with the highest number of patients in the zip-code prefix 958 and 956.

Conclusions: Females have a higher risk of having a poor visual outcome in the multivariate analysis, while insurance and race trended towards significance. The mapping of patient outcomes, while a helpful way to represent patient demographics, does not necessarily reflect the data analysis, but still holds a helpful hypothesis generating role.