María Varela-Agra

Dr. María Varela-Agra


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

6Years (2021-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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10 September 2021 in Journal of Clinical Medicine
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
CFCarmen Antía Rodríguez Fernández
Carmen Antía Rodríguez Fernández
MVMaría Varela-Agra
María Varela-Agra
LPLucía Pérez-Roldán
Lucía Pérez-Roldán
AÁAna Álvarez-Reguera
Ana Álvarez-Reguera
CMCristina Martinez
Cristina Martinez
ACAna Campo-Gesto
Ana Campo-Gesto
Background: The declaration of the first state of alarm for COVID-19 in March 2020 provoked changes in ophthalmological care. The objective of this study was to assess its impact on reorganising care activities, the mental health of ophthalmologists and the training of residents. Methods: We sent an anonymous online questionnaire between August and October 2020 to consultant ophthalmologists and residents who were active during the state of alarm in Spain. We used Google Forms® software for data collection. We analysed responses according to the degree of regional impact. Results: We received a total of 328 responses from the 17 Autonomous Communities. We saw that 99.4% of respondents changed their work activities with 50% reductions in surgery (94.5%) and consultations (93.0%). Furthermore, 58.8% of respondents reported increased anxiety, and 29.9% transferred to support other services, with this number reaching 49.6% in the hardest-hit regions. Training programs were greatly reduced in external consultations (90.7%), and surgical training was completely cancelled (100%). Additionally, 56.5% of trainees wanted to prolong their residence periods. Conclusions: The first wave of the pandemic produced significant changes in ophthalmology services, and these changes were more pronounced in the most affected regions. It caused a negative psychological impact on a high rate of respondents and an interruption of the training of ophthalmology residents. Predictably, the negative consequences of this delay in ophthalmological care on patients will be uneven between regions.