Geriatric Ophthalmology

The elderly patient is not simply an "older adult." Geriatric patients have unique responses to treatment and disease: they often harbor co-morbidities that can impact evaluation, treatment, and prognosis. Often elderly patients may require specialized expertise or experience to deal with specific geriatric syndromes. It is not the goal of Geriatric Ophthalmology to make ophthalmologists into geriatricians. Rather, it is our hope that by applying a competency-based approach, we can improve awareness, increase understanding and encourage expertise about geriatric issues among eye care professionals. Among the topics of special interest to the ophthalmologist treating elderly patients, the editors have included diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and low vision. As demographic trends demonstrate, the patient population of will continue to expand into the foreseeable future, making the competent and compassionate care of elderly patientsan imperative for clinicians, public health officials, patients and families. Geriatric Ophthalmology: A Competency-Based Approach aims to provide the framework for quality patient care.

Andrew G. Lee, M.D. is a graduate of the University of Virginia undergraduate school and the School of Medicine. He completed his ophthalmology residency and was the chief resident at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas in 1993. Following residency, Dr. Lee completed a fellowship in neuro-ophthalmology with Neil R. Miller MD at the Wilmer Eye Institute and was a post-doctoral Fight for Sight fellow at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland from 1993-1994. He was formerly an Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston from 1994-2000. He has published over 240 peer reviewed articles, 40 book chapters, and two full textbooks in ophthalmology. Dr. Lee serves on the Editorial Board of 12 journals including the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology, and Eye. He has received the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Honor Award, the AAO Secretariat Award, and the AAO Senior Achievement Award. Dr. Lee is currently Professor of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery in the H. Stanley Thompson Neuro-ophthalmology Clinic at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Dr. Lee is the Associate Program Director of Ophthalmology and is the Director of Graduate Medical Education (GME) new educational initiatives at the University of Iowa. Dr. Lee's interest in geriatrics stems from his belief that ophthalmologists should strive to be physicians first and ophthalmologists second. He has served as the chair of the AAO Committee on Aging and on the Council of the Section of Surgical and Related Medical Specialties at the American Geriatrics Society.

Scope of the Problem and Demographic Shift in Population: Visual Disease Incidence and Prevalence in the Elderly Population.- Refractive Error in the Geriatric Population.- Cataracts and Cataract Surgery.- Glaucoma in the Elderly.- Diabetic Retinopathy and Its Management.- Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Its Management.- Low Vision: When Vision Fails.- Visual Loss and Depression.- Visual Loss and Dementia.- Visual Loss and Hearing Loss.- Visual Loss and Falls.- Elder Abuse.- Functional Impairment and Visual Loss.- The Research Agenda-Setting Project (RASP).- Screening for Comorbidities.- Refer Comorbidities.