The far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 public health emergency were once again highlighted in a study published recently in the journal Ophthalmic Epidemiology that investigated the pandemic’s effect on diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening. To accomplish this, researchers analyzed more than one million health claims in central Massachusetts from 2018 to 2022 to compare the number of DR screenings from the years before and after the COVID-19 virus became widespread. The data showed that post-pandemic weekly DR screenings in the region decreased by 15.1 percent compared to pre-pandemic rates. Adjusting for seasonal variation, the study authors reported a post-lockdown screening rate that was 12 percent lower than the mean weekly DR screening rate during the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period. Read More