People who need eye care are forgoing treatment because of its cost, say researchers calling for greater support for those without private health insurance.
About 23 per cent of patients were avoiding general health care and optometry services because of cost barriers, according to a survey of visitors to the free-of-charge Centre for Eye Health in Sydney's east.
That figure rose to more than 25 per cent for people in need of specialist eye care, the study's co-author Angelica Ly said.
"Our research shows that more support is needed, especially for people with poor self-rated general health or without private hospital health insurance," Dr Ly said.
Partly to blame is an increase in out-of-pocket costs for eye care over the past decade which likely affected a large number of Australians, the researchers said.
Up to 82 per cent of Australians have had an eye examination in the past two years.
The median out-of-pocket cost for specialist services in 2024 was $96 and less than 19 per cent of ophthalmology services bulk-billed through Medicare.
"Overall, these findings indicate that current collaborative eye care models may be improved by providing additional support for individuals who are in poorer health or do not have private health insurance," Dr Ly and co-author Rene Cheung said.
"Additionally, public health policies need to use eye care-specific strategies to optimise access to eye care."
In addition to a lack of health insurance, they noted lesser healthcare affordability was also linked to being female or young, having a long-term health condition, living outside metropolitan or regional areas and socio-economic disadvantage.
The study was published on Wednesday in the Sax Institute journal Public Health Research and Practice.
