Compliance Key to Diabetic Eye Exam Effectiveness

Patients with diabetes hold a key to preventing vision loss from the disease by maintaining careful compliance with their eye doctor’s recommendations regarding having regular eye exams. Although there is no cure for diabetic retinopathy, with careful management of risk factors such as blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, moderation of alcohol consumption and routine exercise along with regular annual dilated eye exams, the potential vision loss from diabetes and associated diabetic eye problems can be minimized. BUT-this requires that patients do their part and keep a strict schedule and compliance with the recommendations for diabetic eye exams and testing.

Research on Diabetic Eye Exam Compliance
Researchers reporting in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, studied and identified variables that predict adherence with annual eye examinations using the Compliance with Annual Diabetic Eye Exams Survey (CADEES), a new questionnaire designed to measure health beliefs related to diabetic retinopathy and annual eye examinations.

A number of factors seemed to impact diabetic patient compliance with annual eye exams including a) whether they thought their insurance would pay for the eye exam, b) whether it was difficult to schedule or physically get to an eye exam appointment with their eye doctor, c) whether patients had been counseled and made obtaining an eye examination a top priority and d) whether they had been previously told that they had signs of diabetic retinopathy.

In addition, clinicians can also help patients with compliance with the diabetic eye exams by carefully and thoroughly counseling those newly diagnosed and those with poorly controlled blood sugar patients more diligently about the importance of annual eye examinations and discussing and helping patients remove perceived barriers and misconceptions.

If you or someone you know has diabetes they need to have regular annual dilated eye exams to prevent vision loss from diabetic eye diseases and problems. Please share this information with anyone you know who is diabetic and ask them to call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center, Google+ or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center is located at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, and is conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.