Glaucoma referral refinement in Ireland: managing the sensitivity ‐specificity paradox in optometric practice

ConclusionOf the patients seen within the scheme, 62% did not require referral onward to ophthalmology, thus releasing the significant majority of hospital clinic slots that would previously have been required to examine such patients. The high level of inter‐professional decision agreement likely reflects the benefits of pre‐scheme apprenticeship style training and ongoing hospital clinic participation by the scheme optometrist. The rate of loss to follow up compares favourably with ophthalmology led, hospital based, glaucoma clinics. Nevertheless, the losses indicate that patient education remains a key priority for future planning.

Source: Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics - March 1, 2018 Category: Opthalmology Authors: Catriona Barrett, Colm O'Brien, James Loughman Tags: Original Article Source Type: research