Survey finds patients in touch with eye doctors during COVID-19
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More than one-third of survey respondents reported staying in touch with their eye care providers during March and April, even with most offices closed, according to the Vision Council’s April COVID-19 Optical Impact Consumer Study.
They were more likely to communicate with their provider via telephone calls, email and phone text exchanges, and social media video apps, as indicated by responses to the council’s VisionWatch consumer survey.
The monthly survey is designed to gauge consumer levels of concern about the COVID-19 pandemic and track trends related to their interactions with eye care providers and eye wear purchases, according to a press release from the group.
The study also showed that by the last week in April, 61% of U.S. adults were highly to extremely concerned about COVID-19, which was a decrease from 71% during the first week of April.
The percentage of consumers postponing or canceling prescription eye wear purchases also decreased from 38% from the week of April 12 to 29% during the week of April 26.
Additional details from the survey showed a moderate increase in use of telehealth services through all generations of adults including digital activities for mental and physical health, accessing online personal training or fitness programs, and use of wellness apps.
“As the complex implications of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to impact our industry, we have been closely monitoring how consumer sentiment is changing,” Ashley Mills, CEO of the Vision Council, said in the release. “By tracking daily response patterns, the research team has been able to identify subtle shifts in consumer sentiment toward eye care and vision correction that are extremely important to understand. We are committed to keeping our community informed as the situation continues to evolve.”