Abstract
We examined the clinical practice of diabetic retinopathy in Chiba Prefecture. Sixty-five medical and 16 ophthalmologic institutions participated in this survey. Of those, 37 medical institutions had board-certified diabetologists (BCDs), and 10 ophthalmologic institutions had certified ophthalmologists. The data of 3619 and 367 patients were collected from medical and ophthalmologic institutions, respectively. In the medical departments, 66.6 % of all patients were visiting ophthalmologists, including 70.9 % of patients treated by BCDs and 56.5 % of those treated by non-BCDs. Patients who had never visited or stopped visiting ophthalmologists were younger and had a shorter disease duration than those who continued to visit ophthalmologists. The age, disease duration, and type 1 diabetes mellitus were positively associated with visiting the ophthalmologist according to a multiple logistic regression analysis. In the survey for ophthalmologists, 94.8 % of the patients undergoing eye visits continued visiting medical institutions. Of the ophthalmologic patients, 77.4 % had diabetic retinopathy. Pan-retinal photocoagulation therapy had been performed in 40.9 % of the patients, and 5.7 % had a history of vitreous surgery. This survey revealed the current situation concerning diabetes care units for diabetic retinopathy in Chiba Prefecture. X does not seem sufficient at present [please define X], and patients should be encouraged to visit ophthalmologists.
