[Screening for diabetic retinopathy with ophthalmoscopy: the contribution of non-ophthalmologist practitioners seems...

Diabetic retinopathy is a severe and frequent complication of diabetes. Screening and early treatment of retinal lesions avoid blindness, but diagnosis is often established too late. The purpose of our study was to compare the concordance between the results of examination of fundus oculi whether performed by a previously trained non ophthalmologist physician at diabetes day center or during a routine ophthalmology consultation. Results were classified a posteriori in order to have binary response (presence of the lesion, absence of the lesion). Ninety six eyes were examined. Results of these examinations were compared using the kappa test agreement (kappa). The concordance was good for the majority of retinal lesions. The concordance in the results suggests that the contribution of non ophthalmologist physicians to the screening of diabetic retinopathy is possible and could facilitate the selection of patients who require specialized and elaborate ophthalmologic exploration.