Diabetes Eye Exam Frequency in US Is ‘Alarmingly Low’
The frequency of eye exams among insured patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the United States is “alarmingly low,” new research indicates, as reported in Medscape.
Findings from an analysis of nationwide IBM Watson Health claims data were recently published online in Diabetes Care by Stephen R. Benoit, MD, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues.
Among nearly 300,000 insured individuals with type 2 diabetes and no diabetic retinopathy at baseline, almost half had no eye exam visits recorded over the past 5 years, and only about one in seven met the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA’s) recommendations for annual or biennial exams. Among nearly 3000 with type 1 diabetes, about a third had no eye exam visits in 5 years and just a quarter met the ADA recommendations.