THE QUALITY OF PHOTOGRAPHS PRODUCED BY THE NONMYDRIATIC FUNDUS CAMERAIN A SCREENING-PROGRAM FOR DIABETIC-RETINOPATHY - A 1 YEAR PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

A prospective study was performed on the quality of photographs produc ed by the non-mydriatic fundus camera used in a hospital-based screeni ng programme for diabetic retinopathy. In 1 year 981 binocular patient s were photographed. A photograph of acceptable quality was obtained f rom 90.5% of eyes and 84.4% of patients had an acceptable photograph o f both eyes. The photograph of the second eye was more often unaccepta ble than that of the first. This tendency was significant in females ( p = 0.0196) and when considering the sexes together (p = 0.0044), but not significant in males (p = 0.1042). Photographs of unacceptable qua lity were obtained significantly more often in patients aged over 55 y ears for both right and left eyes (p = 0.0001). An overall improvement in photographic quality might be achieved by allowing full recovery o f flash-induced pupil constriction before taking the second photograph and by dilating those aged over 55 years.