Easier Access To Eye Checks For Diabetics, Australia

Date: Feb-04-2013Improving access to vital eye checks for people with diabetes has been the focus of two Australian
research groups.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) - blindness caused by diabetes -- remains a major cause of visual
impairment in working-age Australians despite the availability of testing for early detection and
treatment of the degenerative disease.

Two new studies, published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, investigate
possibilities for improving the uptake of available testing in both rural and urban settings.
In one study Melanie Larizza from the Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne
and her colleagues set up testing for DR within a pathology collection centre (PCC) in suburban
Melbourne, with a view to testing people with diabetes, as up to 90 per cent of whom regularly
attend PCCs for other diabetes-related tests.

Their finding that a third of diabetic patients had not undertaken the recommended biannual DR
screening was 'similar to non-adherence rates found in other studies', the authors said.
While uptake of the offered new service was high - almost 94 per cent of patients accepted the
DR testing at the PCC - the study also found that follow-up on results by GPs and patients was
the biggest weakness of the PCC delivery method.

"Although our program successfully enrolled patients with diabetes who did not participate in
biannual DR screening, our model needs to be revised to ensure that the GP and patients are well
informed of the screening results to help patients make informed decisions about their diabetic eye
care", the authors said.

A second study, by Dr Janice J-Y Ku of the Sydney Eye Hospital, was performed as part of the
Central Australian Ocular Health Study. It tested the efficacy of single-field fundus photography in
detecting DR in Indigenous patients in remote Central Australia: a group which has high rates of
diabetes and poor access to eye care.

When compared with a retinal examination by an ophthalmologist, the fundus photography met the
minimum requirements for accuracy recommended by the National Health and Medical Research
Council.

"It is a valid screening tool for DR in remote communities," the study found.
"Providing optometrists or other trained technicians who visit the communities with fundus
cameras or installing fundus cameras in the medical clinics of remote communities and training
local staff to recognise signs of DR may help identify patients who require referral in a timely
manner."

In an editorial in the same edition of the MJA, Dr Nigel Morlet and Dr Jonathon Q Ng from the Eye
and Vision Epidemiology Research (EVER) Group in said the major challenge for the treatment of
DR remained the delivery of adequate preventive care.

"The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes requires paradigm shifts in
models of health care delivery", they said.

"Notwithstanding the benefits of current diabetic retinopathy screening techniques, which require
less technical proficiency, the challenge is finding the best means of delivering these services to
the community."

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.