Programa de teleoftalmología para prevención de la ceguera por diabetes en una zona rural de la Argentina

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness. To detect this disease early in the rural area of La Pampa province (Argentina) a teleophthalmology program was developed. The aim of this study was to assess the rate of annual eye examination in people with diabetes before and after implementing the program. METHODS: A before and after study design was performed. The study population were people with diabetes. The outcomes were measured with a telephone survey. The rate of annual eye examination performed in rural areas before and after implementing the Program was compared. Secondarily, a comparison with the rate of eye examination in urban area, which has the traditional care system, was performed. McNemar's test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The rate of annual eye examination performed before and after the implementation of the Program in rural areas improved from 39.3% to 78.6%. Being 22.9% higher than the exams carried out in the urban area. CONCLUSION: The annual eye examination rate performed in people with diabetes of the rural area of La Pampa province increased significantly after implementing a teleophthalmology program.