Pediatric ophthalmic specialists not common in Japan

Many university hospitals and general hospitals in Japan have pediatric ophthalmology services that are staffed by general ophthalmologists, according to an analysis of the Japanese ophthalmic community. Most see patients once per week or less, the authors of the analysis said.

“Currently, this is a serious problem in Japan, ” said Miho Sato, MD, and Yoshimasa Qatanabe, MD, who presented an overview of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus in Japan in the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. The authors noted that, although the Japanese population is aging rapidly, children under 14 still account for 14.5% of the population.

Pediatric ophthalmology specialists tend to see patients for complex strabismus surgeries such as vertical deviation, the authors said. General ophthalmologists usually perform only horizontal strabismus surgeries. General ophthalmologists tend to treat refractive errors and perform orthoptics for amblyopia and strabismus because there are no optometrists in the country.

Few university hospitals have full-time positions for pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus specialists, and academic positions in the universities are limited, the authors said.

Each of the 11 children’s hospitals in Japan has an affiliated professor who influences personnel issues, the authors said. “If the university does not have enough doctors subspecializing in or learning about pediatric ophthalmology, local children’s hospitals do not have the resources to sustain an ophthalmology department,” they said.