An eye opener: improving attendance rates of retinopathy screening within the paediatric diabetes clinic

Abstract

AbstractAims: To audit eye screening attendance rates in children pre and post implementation of a screening service offered on the same day as their diabetes clinic appointment and to identify characteristics of non‐attenders.Methods: Data were extracted from the diabetic eye screening software ‘OptoMize’ between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019 (pre intervention) and between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 (post intervention). Attendance rates of 72 eligible participants were gained and their diabetes characteristics (age, duration of diabetes and HbA1c) were examined pre and post intervention with application of the Mood's median test in order to determine statistical significance.Results: Same day screening with routine diabetes appointments improved the eye screening attendance rate by 22%. Those with a higher HbA1c were significantly less likely to attend (p<0.05) pre intervention, while post intervention, the median HbA1c of those who did not attend was lower than those who did. There was no significant difference between the age of participants for those who attended and those who did not pre and post intervention (p=0.705/0.235). Those who did not attend despite the intervention had a longer duration of diabetes than those who did, yet significance was not gained.Conclusion: This study has addressed a gap within existing knowledge and provided quantitative analysis within the field of paediatric diabetic eye screening. Findings have identified the positive impact of a ‘same day screening service’ integrated with routine diabetes care on attendance, and have also identified a clear improvement in attendance rates of those with the higher risk factors of developing sight‐threatening retinopathy. Copyright © 2023 John Wiley & Sons.