Abstract
Purpose: :
To investigate the rates of diabetic retinopathy among underserved populations using the data collected by the San Francisco General Hospital's Eye Van, a mobile eye unit.
Methods: :
The SFGH Eye van staff examined a total of 1020 patients from March, 2004 to June, 2005. Each patient's ethnicity was self–reported. Patients were photographed with a non–mydriatic camera, and were then dilated and examined by the eye van staff. Photographs were later analyzed by an ophthalmologist. Follow up for patients with retinopathy was arranged to be at the San Francisco General Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology.
Results: :
Among 1020 patients seen, 57.0% where of Asian origin, 18.8% were African–Americans, 16.0% were Hispanic, and 12.5% were White. The number of patients with diabetes in the overall group of referred patients was 56.5%. Among the different races diabetes was present in 51.1%, 54.7%, 71.8%, and 59.4% respectively for Asians, African–Americans, Latinos, and Whites. The rate of diabetic retinopathy among diabetics in the overall population was 12.0%, and among the subgroups was 12.3%, 5.7%, 12.8%, and 10.5% respectively for Asians, African–American's, Latinos and Whites. There was complete correlation for the presence of diabetic retinopathy among the Eye Van staff and the examiner of the non–mydriatic images.
Conclusions: :
Mobile eye services with the use of a non–mydriatic camera are an effective way to screen for diabetic retinopathy. There is a significant amount of undiagnosed diabetic retinopathy in the underserved communities in San Francisco. There appears to be a significant amount of diabetics in the Latino community who did not have previous access to eye care. Diabetic retinopathy rates among underserved diabetics in the African–American community are significantly lower than that of other races in our study.
Keywords: diabetic retinopathy • imaging/image analysis: clinical