Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Electroretinogram Recording for Infants and Children under Anesthesia to Achieve Optimal Dark Adaptation and International Standards
Published on: September 3, 2020
Geographic Access to Pediatric Retina Specialists in the United States
Catherine K Liu1, Kathryn Achuck1, Lucy V Cobbs2
1Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Background And Objective:
With rising incidence of pediatric retina disease, this study aimed to identify geographic and socioeconomic factors that predict residential access to pediatric retinal specialists.
Patients And Methods:
This cross-sectional, retrospective study identified pediatric retina specialists in the United States and de-identified census tract-level data from public datasets. An origin-destination cost matrix was used to calculate travel time to the closest pediatric vitreoretinal specialist.
Results:
Factors associated with greater travel burden to the nearest pediatric retinal specialist included residing in census tracts that were rural (P < .001), in the South vs Northeast (P = .009), low income (P < .0001), and low education (associate and some college vs bachelor's degree; P = .003 and .015). Counties with higher proportion of very low birth weight infants had significantly less travel time (P < .001).
Conclusions:
Counties with higher incidences of very low birth weight infants experience reduced travel durations to pediatric retina specialists. However, residents in rural, low-income, low-education census tracts, particularly in Southern regions, face greater travel burdens.
Related Concept Videos
The Retinoblastoma Gene
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
The Retina
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Anatomy of the Eyeball
