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Diabetic Eye Screening: Knowledge and Perspectives from Providers and Patients

  • Microvascular Complications—Retinopathy (JK Sun and PS Silva, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Diabetic retinopathy remains the leading cause of blindness among working-age US adults even though timely screening and treatment prevent 90% of blindness. We summarize current knowledge and perspectives to better understand why diabetic eye screening rates remain low and future directions towards preventing blindness from diabetes.

Recent Findings

Significant advancements in the past 10 years include primary care and patient-oriented interventions as well as the use of teleophthalmology. In England, diabetic eye disease is no longer the leading cause of certifiable blindness following the implementation of a national teleophthalmology program for diabetic retinopathy.

Summary

Multiple workflow and systems-level barriers affect providers. Patient barriers include a limited understanding of screening and lack of access to care. Interventions have been developed, but new barriers exist towards sustaining their impact. More research is needed to identify and implement the best practices to increase diabetic eye screening rates long-term.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 2870 University Ave, Ste 206, Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    Yao Liu & Rebecca Swearingen

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  1. Yao Liu
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Correspondence to Yao Liu.

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Yao Liu and Rebecca Swearingen declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Yao Liu is supported by NIH/NEI K23 EY026518 and by an institutional grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Microvascular Complications—Retinopathy

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Liu, Y., Swearingen, R. Diabetic Eye Screening: Knowledge and Perspectives from Providers and Patients. Curr Diab Rep 17, 94 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-017-0911-2

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