The incorporation of family physicians in the assessment of diabetic retinopathy by non-mydriatic fundus camera

Romero, Pedro; Sagarra, Ramon; Ferrer, Jeroni; Fernández-Ballart, Juan; Baget, Marc

doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2010.02.001

« Previous Next »Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice
Volume 88, Issue 2 , Pages 184-188, May 2010

The incorporation of family physicians in the assessment of diabetic retinopathy by non-mydriatic fundus camera

Pedro Romero
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Sant Joan, Reus, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
- Corresponding author at: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Sant Joan, C/Sant Joan s/n, Reus 43201, Tarragona, Spain. Tel.: +34 977310300x5308; fax: +34 977323754.
Ramon Sagarra
- Basic Care Unit of Reus-Priorat, Unit of Non-mydriatic Fundus Camera, Spain
Jeroni Ferrer
- Public Health Division, Sanitary Region, Camp de Tarragona, Spain
Juan Fernández-Ballart
- Department of Basic Sciences, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Marc Baget
- Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Sant Joan, Reus, Spain
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

Received 8 April 2009; accepted 2 February 2010. published online 02 March 2010.

Abstract

Aims

To evaluate the inclusion of family physicians in screening for diabetic retinopathy.

Methods

We evaluated by non-mydriatic fundus camera 2779 diabetic patients. The family physicians made an initial evaluation of the fundus and pathological images were sent to a reference ophthalmologist. An audit was taken of all the patients at the end of the study. We analysed the concordance in: diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, and lesions in the macular area.

Results

Diabetic retinopathy was observed in 226 patients (8.1%) and diabetic macular edema in 40 patients (1.4%). Other retinal pathologies were diagnosed in 291 (11.0%). The sensitivity of the study was 95.2% for diabetic retinopathy, 96.0% for macular lesions and 92.9% for diabetic macular edema. The specificity was above 98% in the three studied variables. Cohen's Kappa coefficient was 0.82 for diabetic retinopathy, 0.81 for diabetic macular edema and 0.96 for macular lesions.