Retinopatía en pacientes diabéticos tratados por diferentes especialistas. Reporte preliminar

Abstract

A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE PROPORTION OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY DIFFERS AMONG PATIENTS TREATED BY DIFFERENT MEDICAL SPECIALISTS. METHOD: EVALUATIONS WERE DIVIDED INTO GROUPS, ACCORDING TO THE PHYSICIAN WHO REFERRED THEM: GROUP 1: ENDOCRINOLOGISTS; GROUP 2: INTERNISTS; GROUP 3: GENERAL PRACTITIONERS. THE PROPORTION OF EYES WITH A) DIABETIC RETINOPATHY, B) PROLIFERATIVE RETINOPATHY AND C) SEVERE VISUAL LOSS WERE COMPARED IN THE THREE GROUPS. ALSO, TIMING OF REFERRAL, ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL GUIDELINES WAS EVALUATED. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS WERE ANALYZED BY X2. RESULTS: SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX EYES OF 387 PATIENTS WERE EVALUATED. TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR EYES WERE ASSIGNED TO GROUP 1, 152 TO GROUP 2 AND 340 TO GROUP 3. OVERALL RATES OF EYES WITH RETINOPATHY, PROLIFERATIVE RETINOPATHY AND SEVERE VISUAL LOSS WERE 48%, 16% AND 14% RESPECTIVELY. DIABETIC RETINOPATHY, PROLIFERATIVE RETINOPATHY AND SEVERE VISUAL LOSS WERE STATISTICALLY LESS FREQUENT IN GROUP 1 THAN IN GROUPS 2 AND 3 (P <0.05). GROUPS 2 AND 3 WERE NOT STATISTICALLY DIFFERENT (P > 0.05). RETINOPATHY DETECTION WAS NOT ON TIME FOR ANY OF THE GROUPS. DISCUSSION: DETECTION OF RETINOPATHY BY THE PHYSICIAN WHO TREATS DIABETIC PATIENTS AND TIMELY REFERRAL MUST BE REINFORCED, ESPECIALLY DURING PRE-DEGREE TRAINING.