A study has shown that when it comes to primary diagnosis and management of eye conditions presenting at accident and emergency departments, optometrists performed as favourably as ophthalmologists.
No sight-threatening condition that presented during the trial period was misdiagnosed by the optometrists involved.
The study, published in this month's British Journal of Ophthalmology (2007, 91:437-440) compared the performance of two senior optometrists with one consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London when presented with randomly selected cases.
A diagnosis and management plan was made by the optometrist for each patient and then by the consultant who was unaware of the optometrist's decision.
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