SCREENING FOR DIABETIC-RETINOPATHY - DO FAMILY PHYSICIANS KNOW THE CANADIAN GUIDELINES

OBJECTIVE To assess whether family physicians and family medicine resi dents know what the Canadian guidelines for screening for diabetic ret inopathy are, and to assess whether they believe they can perform this screening. DESIGN Mailed survey with two mailed reminders. PARTICIPAN TS All general practitioners (N=1038) listed in two health catchment a reas, Quebec and Chaudiere-Appalaches administrative regions in the pr ovince of Quebec, and all family medicine residents (N=125) at Laval U niversity Medical School. Response rate was 62% among general practiti oners and 77% among residents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Knowledge of scre ening guidelines for diabetic retinopathy in type I and type II diabet es, including timing of the initial screening examination, risk factor s, natural history, and treatment of ocular complications; and percept ion of ability to screen for diabetic retinopathy. RESULTS Among GPs, 80% of respondents correctly chose the statement with the current guid eline for first screening for diabetic retinopathy to be performed sho rtly after diagnosis of type II diabetes. Only 13% of respondents were familiar with the guideline for first screening 5 years after diagnos is of type I diabetes. Agreement with other correct guideline statemen ts was also low. Overall, residents had higher scores than GPs. Most r espondents were not confident in the accuracy of their eye examination s. CONCLUSION General practitioners and family medicine residents have varying levels of knowledge about the Canadian guidelines for screeni ng for diabetic retinopathy. These results will be useful in designing and improving educational programs for GPs in diabetic retinopathy sc reening.