Utility of a smartphone assisted direct ophthalmoscope camera for a general practitioner in screening of diabetic retinopathy at a primary health care center

Purpose:To assess the use of smartphone-based direct ophthalmoscope photography for screening of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in known diabetic patients walking into a general practitioner''s clinic and referring them to a vitreoretinal specialist for further evaluation and management if required.Methodos:The study included 94 eyes of 47 walk-in patients in a general practitioner''s OPD who were known to have type 2 diabetes mellitus and were already on treatment for the same.Results:The study included 47 patients with diabetes with a mean age of 56.2 ± 9.4 years. The Cohen''s kappa values revealed that the diagnosis related to the DR status made using a camera was in substantial agreement with the clinical diagnosis (Kappa value: 0.770). The Cohen''s kappa values revealed that the diagnosis related to the DME made using a camera was in moderate agreement with the clinical diagnosis (Kappa value: 0.410). The agreement between the findings of the camera and clinical diagnosis was statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion:Direct ophthalmoscope-based smartphone imaging can be a useful tool in the OPD of a general practitioner. These images can be assessed for retinopathy, and patients can be referred to a vitreoretinal specialist for further evaluation and management if needed. Hence, the burden of vision loss due to complications of DR in the rural sector can be abridged.