Interventions increase screening attendance, says study

Targeted interventions can significantly improve attendance rates of diabetic retinopathy screening (DRS), according to a Cochrane systematic review.

Researchers at City, University of London in collaboration with six other universities found that interventions that specifically targeted patients, health care professionals or the health system resulted in a 12% increase in retinopathy screening attendance.

The primary objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of quality improvement interventions that seek to increase attendance for DRS in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Types of interventions included educational programmes, patient reminders and promoting self-management, with ‘goal setting’ named the most effective behaviour change technique (BCT) for improving screening attendance.