id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-320477-zbp8a8dr	Fung, Timothy H.M.	Addressing COVID‐19 fear to improve clinic attendance for patients with wet age‐related macular degeneration	2020-06-18		.txt	text/plain	694	40	56	Despite implementing precautions to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in our clinics (Royal College of Ophthalmologists, 2020), we have noticed a sharp fall in patients with sight-threatening conditions, such as wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) attending their appointments. We evaluated the effect of COVID-19 on the clinic attendance rate for patients with wAMD, and whether non-attendance could be improved by addressing patients' fears of contracting COVID-19 in the ophthalmology department. For all patients, the survey asked about awareness of current COVID-19 clinic precautions in place to minimize infection, and their perception of safety if there was a requirement to wear a facemask or covering. For patients who did not attend their appointment, 85% stated the reason was because they felt fearful of contracting COVID-19. Ophthalmology departments should take steps to address patients' fears of contracting COVID-19 to increase clinic attendance.	./cache/cord-320477-zbp8a8dr.txt	./txt/cord-320477-zbp8a8dr.txt