Objective In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, strict hygiene and containment measures have been instituted in the clinical ophthalmological examination to prevent virus transmission. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of these protective measures on the quality of the examination with an emphasis on gender-specific differences. Methods and analysis An online survey was sent to ophthalmologists in 10 countries. The collected data included demographics, place of work, current professional status, COVID-19 protective measures and their impact on the quality of the examination. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Fisher’s exact test was used to analyse gender differences. Results A total of 120 responses were collected. 54.0% of the respondents identified as female and 43.4% as male. Over 75% agreed that protective measures made the examination conditions more difficult. The major problems were fogging of the lenses (87.6%) or slit lamp oculars (69.9%), reduced operability of the slit lamp due to protective barriers (60.2%) and time delay due to disinfection measures (68.1%). Significantly more women than men reported that they used filtering face piece (FFP2) instead of surgical masks (p=0.02). More male participants reported that they removed their mask to prevent fogging (p=0.01). 31% of all participants felt that the COVID-19 protective measures reduced the overall quality of slit lamp examination and 43.4% reported a reduced quality of fundoscopic examination. Conclusion COVID-19 related safety measures reduce the feasibility of the clinical ophthalmological examination. Practicable solutions are required to maintain good examination quality without compromising personal safety. Data are available on reasonable request. The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 保护措施对眼科患者检查的影响，重点是性别差异

目的为应对COVID-19大流行，在临床眼科检查中制定了严格的卫生和遏制措施，以防止病毒传播。本研究的目的是评估这些保护措施对考试质量的影响，重点是性别差异。方法和分析 向 10 个国家的眼科医生发送了在线调查。收集的数据包括人口统计、工作地点、当前专业状况、COVID-19 保护措施及其对考试质量的影响。描述性统计用于分析数据。费舍尔精确检验用于分析性别差异。结果共收集到120份回复。54.0% 的受访者确定为女性，43.4% 为男性。超过 75% 的人同意保护措施使考试条件更加困难。主要问题是镜片起雾 (87.6%) 或裂隙灯目镜 (69.9%)、裂隙灯因防护屏障而降低可操作性 (60.2%) 和消毒措施造成时间延迟 (68.1%)。显着多于男性报告她们使用过滤面罩 (FFP2) 而不是外科口罩 (p=0.02)。更多男性参与者报告说他们摘下口罩以防止起雾（p=0.01）。31% 的参与者认为 COVID-19 保护措施降低了裂隙灯检查的整体质量，43.4% 的参与者报告眼底镜检查质量下降。结论 COVID-19相关安全措施降低了临床眼科检查的可行性。需要切实可行的解决方案来保持良好的检查质量而不影响人身安全。可根据合理要求提供数据。当前研究期间使用和/或分析的数据集可根据合理要求从相应的作者处获得。