title: Screening for diabetic eye disease by optometrists using slit lamps.
abstract: Diabetic patients were screened for diabetic eye disease by hospital-based optometrists using a slit lamp with a 78-dioptres Volk lens. Visual acuity and intraocular pressure were also measured. Of 622 patients screened, 149 (24.0%) had background and 32 (5.1%) advanced retinopathy/maculopathy. The fundus was inadequately visualised in four (0.6%) patients. Following screening, 86 (13.8%) patients were referred to the ophthalmology clinic for appropriate treatment and follow up. Hospital-based optometrists using a slit lamp offer a useful new method for screening for diabetic eye disease. They can identify previously unrecognised sight-threatening diabetic eye disease and important non-diabetic eye disease requiring intervention, and are relatively cheap. This method is ideally suited for rapid referral to the specialist. The results merit larger-scale studies both to confirm the effectiveness of this method and to assess whether hospital trained optometrists could perform screening in the community.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diabetes and Ophthalmology, Walton Hospital, Liverpool.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Leese
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tesfaye
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dengler-Harles
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Laws
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Macfarlane
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy