A baseline audit of the population groups accessing optometry training clinics in Aotearoa New Zealand: looking towards equity in eye care.

Abstract

Clinical relevance: To improve equity in eye care, optometry training clinics should be accessible to all population groups so that future optometrists develop skills working with different population groups.

Background: In the 2019 World Report on Vision, the World Health Organization highlighted a need to improve access to eye care globally. In Aotearoa New Zealand, a renewed focus on equity followed the 2022 health system reform. The School of Optometry and Vision Science (SOVS) at The University of Auckland has an important role in promoting equity within the eye health sector. The aim of this study was to assess whether the SOVS teaching clinics are accessible to a range of population groups.

Methods: The demographics and travel distances of patients accessing the SOVS teaching clinics within the five-year period immediately prior to the New Zealand health system reform (2017-2021) were assessed. The representativeness of patients accessing the main teaching clinic was compared to the wider New Zealand population.

Results: Information describing patient ethnicity was not available for 82% of the 18,981 patients. Compared to the New Zealand population, people who accessed the main teaching clinic were more likely to live in areas with low levels of deprivation, and those who lived in areas of high deprivation travelled the furthest (all p < 0.01). Compared to patients accessing the main teaching clinic, a person accessing care at a fully subsidised community-based clinic was 27 times more likely to live in an area with the highest level of deprivation.

Conclusions: Due to its location, the teaching clinic where New Zealand optometrists are trained is less accessible to people who live in areas with high levels of deprivation, and greater focus on collecting patient ethnicity information is required. Funding for routine, community outreach services would address inequities and embed a culture of equity into optometry education.