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. 2016 Jul;33(7):904-11.
doi: 10.1111/dme.12957. Epub 2015 Oct 6.

Screening attendance, age group and diabetic retinopathy level at first screen

P H Scanlon  1 , I M Stratton  1 , G P Leese  2 , M O Bachmann  3 , M Land  4 , C Jones  5 , B Ferguson  6 ; Four Nations Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Study Group
Affiliations

Screening attendance, age group and diabetic retinopathy level at first screen

P H Scanlon et al. Diabet Med. 2016 Jul.

Abstract

Aims: To report on the relationships between age at diagnosis of diabetes, time from registration with the screening programme to first diabetic eye screening and severity of diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: Data were extracted from four English screening programmes and from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish programmes. Time from diagnosis of diabetes to first screening and age at diagnosis were calculated.

Results: Time from registration with the screening programme to first screening episode is strongly related to age at registration. Within 18 months of registration 89% of 3958 young people under 18 years of age and 81% of 391 293 people over 35 years of age were seen. In 19 058 people between 18 and 34 years of age, 80% coverage was not reached until 2 years and 9 months. The time from diagnosis of diabetes to first screening is positively associated with severity of disease (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions: This report is the first that to demonstrate that those in the 18-34 year age group are least likely to attend promptly for screening after registration with a higher risk of referable diabetic retinopathy being present at the time of first screen. Date of diagnosis should be recorded and prodigious efforts made to screen all people promptly after diagnosis. Screening programmes should collect data on those who have not attended within one year of registration.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan–Meier curves of proportion screened since registration, by age at registration.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of uptake between screening programmes in different age groups.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of first screening by date of diagnosis of diabetes, within each programme for those first screened in 2010 or 2011. DR, diabetic retinopathy; STDR, sight threatening diabetic retinopathy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Leese GP, Stratton IM, Land M, Bachmann MO, Jones C, Scanlon P et al Progression of diabetes retinal status within community screening programs and potential implications for screening intervals. Diabetes Care 2015; 38: 488–94. - PubMed
    1. Scanlon PH, Aldington SJ, Stratton IM. Delay in diabetic retinopathy screening increases the rate of detection of referable diabetic retinopathy. Diabet Med 2014; 31: 439–442. - PMC - PubMed
    1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence . Type 1 Diabetes: Diagnosis and Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Young People and Adults. Clinical guideline 15. Available at http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg15/chapter/1-recommendations#/identifi... Last accessed 23 May 2015.

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