Stress takes a hold of the American optical community as COVID-19 rages on

As COVID-19 continues to wreck havoc throughout the world, not only killing swathes but also forcing thousands to close their businesses and practices, the Jobson Optical Research survey has measured the trends and attitudes affected by the virus. Unsurprisingly, the findings show that as the financial impact becomes clearer, the 1,295 respondents showed considerable personal and business-related stress.

The respondents, based in the USA, were all asked to rate their personal level of stress on a scale of 1 to 10 – 1 being lowest and 10 highest. Around 56 % rated their stress level at 7 or higher, with average personal stress levels rated higher among female respondents. In terms of business stress, a full 68 % rated their business stress as 7 or higher.

This is the third wave of the survey since the virus began spreading, and one startling change was that during the March 18-19 survey, none of the respondents said that they had closed their practices; whereas in the March 23-24 survey, 59 percent said they had. A whopping 41 % of respondents have had to lay off staff, of which 41 % said they laid off the entire staff.

Interestingly, attitudes towards telemedicine are also changing. In the first survey from March 13-16, only 17 % of respondents planned to offer telemedicine in the near future, with 5 % already offering it as a service. By this third survey, nearly 31 % said they planned to offer it, and 13 % said they already were offering services like phone or video based consultations as well as mobile telemedicine apps.

COVID-19 has already changed the world in many ways, but as we adapt our lifestyles to its restrictions, it looks like its effects might still be around long after the actual virus has disappeared.