Optometric task force releases standards for diabetic retinopathy management
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LKC Technologies has released Modern Fundamentals of Diabetic Retinopathy Management in Optometry, a new consensus document developed by a task force of medical optometry educators to guide patient care.
“The group strove to develop recommendations that would be practical to implement,” Paul Chous, MA, OD, FAAO, of Chous Eye Care Associates in Tacoma, Washington, who led the task force’s inaugural meeting in 2022, said in an LKC press release. “Our goal was to elevate the standard of care with proper management and vigilance, even given the challenges posed by today’s busy health care environments.”
According to the release, the task force was comprised of more than a dozen industry leaders, educators and practice owners from across the U.S., who worked closely with LKC Technologies to develop new guidance.
At the first meeting, members unanimously agreed that structural assessments alone are inadequate to comprehensively monitor patients with diabetic eye disease. Instead, both structural and functional measures are needed to properly stage diabetic retinopathy and assess risk for progression, the release stated. Members also agreed that subjective findings, such as visual acuity, cannot replace objective functional tests like electroretinography.
The task force devised the guidelines based on five pillars — detect, grade, assess risk, manage and support — to simplify diabetic retinopathy management with a focus on evidence-based care.
“There is a dire need for an elevated protocol to guide patient care in [diabetic retinopathy],” Jeffry D. Gerson, OD, FAAO, task force member and optometrist at Grin Eye Care in Olathe, Kansas, said in the release. “The sad reality is that the complexity of this disease and the subjectivity of many of our tests can lead to errors and vision loss.”
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