Effectiveness of optometrist screening for diabetic retinopathy using slit-lamp biomicroscopy

To assess the effectiveness of optometrists as screeners for diabetic retinopathy using slit-lamp binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy through dilated pupils.

Prospective study of a screening scheme. Screening was performed by 27 locally accredited optometrists in their practice. The referral protocol used a new simple grading system of retinopathy, especially designed for use in an optometrist screening programme. All positive referrals and 10% of negative referrals were reexamined by an ophthalmologist. Sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios and technical failure rates were calculated.

The optometrists screened 4904 people with diabetes in 18 months. 'Subthreshold' (screen negative) reports accounted for 4438 (90.5% of 4904); 429 (9.67%) of these were re-examined at secondary screening. There was disagreement regarding grading in 13 patients, of whom 5 (1.16% of 429) had sight-threatening retinopathy (STDR); this extrapolates to 52 patients if all the 4438 test-negatives had been examined. Of the 371 'threshold' patients, 112 (30.18%) were false positives; the commonest cause for false positive referral was drusen in patients with background diabetic retinopathy. The sensitivity for identification of STDR was 76% (95% CI 70% to 81%) and specificity 95% (95% CI 95% to 96%). The likelihood ratio of a positive test indicating STDR was 16.54 (95% CI 14.17 to 19.23) and that of a negative test 0.25 (95% CI 0.20 to 0.32). The technical failure rate was 0.2%.

Suitably trained and accredited community optometrists performed well when screening for diabetic retinopathy using slit-lamp biomicroscopy through a dilated pupil. This was facilitated by the use of simple grading and referral criteria. The sensitivity, positive likelihood ratio and specificity were high.