Three-year retinal screening is safe for type 2 diabetic patients who have no retinopathy, according to a report in this month's Diabetic Care.
Annual screening of the retinas of diabetics is the norm in the UK, while some European countries, notably Sweden, rely on screening every two years.
A study by Skane University Hospital in Malmo assessed the retinas of 1,691 patients in their mid-50s with type 2 diabetes, all of whom began the study with no detectable retinopathy. After three years, 73 per cent were still without retinopathy, while the remaining 27 per cent had mild to moderate (background) retinopathy. None were found to have pre-proliferative or proliferative retinopathy and only three were found to have macular oedema, one of them only in one eye.
Researcher Dr Elisabet Agardh explained: 'Sight-threatening retinopathy occurred in only five of 2,644 eyes. These findings suggest that it's safe to extend the screening interval to three years in patients with type 2 diabetes and no retinopathy at the initial screen.'
The study supports moves in Sweden to extend screening intervals from two to three years for these patients.
