Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs

Aim: To describe current diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening and management practices among Australian general practitioners. Method: A self administered questionnaire on DR management was mailed to 2000 rural and urban GPs across Australia in 2007-2008. Results: Only 29% of the GP respondents had r...

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Main Authors: Ting, D., Ng, Jonathon, Morlet, Nigel, Yuen, J., Clark, A., Taylor, H., Keefe, J., Preen, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2011
Online Access:http://www.racgp.org.au/download/documents/AFP/2011/April/201104ting.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32116
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author Ting, D.
Ng, Jonathon
Morlet, Nigel
Yuen, J.
Clark, A.
Taylor, H.
Keefe, J.
Preen, D.
author_facet Ting, D.
Ng, Jonathon
Morlet, Nigel
Yuen, J.
Clark, A.
Taylor, H.
Keefe, J.
Preen, D.
author_sort Ting, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Aim: To describe current diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening and management practices among Australian general practitioners. Method: A self administered questionnaire on DR management was mailed to 2000 rural and urban GPs across Australia in 2007-2008. Results: Only 29% of the GP respondents had read the National Health and Research Council guidelines at least once and 41% had a 'moderate' to 'strong' desire to screen for DR. A majority of GPs (74%) reported not routinely examining their diabetic patients for DR. Lack of confidence in detecting DR changes (86.4%) and time constraints (73.4%) were the two major barriers to GPs performing dilated fundoscopy on diabetic patients. Discussion: Given that access to optometry is not evenly distributed across the country, and that ophthalmology is underresourced, GPs are the healthcare providers most able to manage and screen for DR in the community.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-321162017-01-30T13:29:15Z Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs Ting, D. Ng, Jonathon Morlet, Nigel Yuen, J. Clark, A. Taylor, H. Keefe, J. Preen, D. Aim: To describe current diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening and management practices among Australian general practitioners. Method: A self administered questionnaire on DR management was mailed to 2000 rural and urban GPs across Australia in 2007-2008. Results: Only 29% of the GP respondents had read the National Health and Research Council guidelines at least once and 41% had a 'moderate' to 'strong' desire to screen for DR. A majority of GPs (74%) reported not routinely examining their diabetic patients for DR. Lack of confidence in detecting DR changes (86.4%) and time constraints (73.4%) were the two major barriers to GPs performing dilated fundoscopy on diabetic patients. Discussion: Given that access to optometry is not evenly distributed across the country, and that ophthalmology is underresourced, GPs are the healthcare providers most able to manage and screen for DR in the community. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32116 http://www.racgp.org.au/download/documents/AFP/2011/April/201104ting.pdf restricted
spellingShingle Ting, D.
Ng, Jonathon
Morlet, Nigel
Yuen, J.
Clark, A.
Taylor, H.
Keefe, J.
Preen, D.
Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs
title Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs
title_full Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs
title_fullStr Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs
title_full_unstemmed Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs
title_short Diabetic retinopathy: Screening and management by Australian GPs
title_sort diabetic retinopathy: screening and management by australian gps
url http://www.racgp.org.au/download/documents/AFP/2011/April/201104ting.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32116