학술논문
Certification of visual impairment in patients with diabetes mellitus in Northern Ireland over a 5‐year period.
Document Type
Abstract
Source
Subject
*VISION disorders
*PEOPLE with diabetes
*DIABETES
*MEDICAL personnel
*EYE diseases
*VISION testing
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Language
ISSN
1755-375X
Abstract
Purpose: To determine the number of patients with diabetes mellitus (PwDM) who were certified as visually impaired (CVI) over the past 5 years in Northern Ireland, UK. Methods: CVI data were collected from 11 sites and 50 eye‐specialists using pre‐defined CVI forms. Eye‐specialists must provide patient demographics and vision information such as visual acuity and diagnosis for certification purposes. Data were transcribed into Microsoft Excel before analysis was undertaken to produce an annual CVI report for eye and healthcare professionals. Our analysis determined the contribution of diabetes and diabetic eye disease (DED) to the sight‐impairment burden between 2014 and 2018. Results: In 2014, 332 CVIs were registered: 184 as severely sight impaired (SSI) and 142 sight impaired (SI). Of the 24 who had diabetes, 19 were certified due to diabetic retinopathy (DR) and 2 to diabetic macular oedema (DMO). Between 2015 and 2017 the number of CVIs increased to 412, 428 and 453 respectively with PwDM having grown to 48, 43 and 41, respectively. PwDM were also certified due to AMD and glaucoma (range of 2%–31% and 2–4% respectively) from 2015 to 2017. After an intense education campaign, in 2018, the total CVI submissions increased to 575; of these 368 were SSI and 196 were SI. The number of people who were certified as having diabetes more than doubled in 2018 to 107 of these, 51 (48%) were certified due to DED. AMD was found to be the second largest cause of visual impairment in PwDM at 40%, the remaining people had other ophthalmic issues such as keratoconus and optic atrophy. Conclusions: PwDM were previously underrepresented in the sight impaired registers in Northern Ireland. Since the awareness campaign and introduction of improved pre‐defined forms in 2018, Northern Ireland is now on par with certification rates in the rest of the UK. This information provides insight into the epidemiology of sight impairment in Northern Ireland while providing appropriate data for policymaking and service planning purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]