Project summary
People living with diabetes are invited to attend routine eye screening appointments to protect their eye health. However, eye drops used during these visits can be uncomfortable and irritating and put people off attending. Professor Scanlon is testing whether a new camera can avoid the need for eye drops in Asian and African-Caribbean people. This research could protect more people from different ethnicities against diabetes-related eye damage.
Background to research
People living with diabetes are more at risk of complications with blood vessels in their eyes, called retinopathy. If left untreated, retinopathy can lead to sight loss. It’s therefore really important that people with diabetes attend regular eye screening appointments so any eye problems can be caught early and treated.
Everyone living with diabetes in the UK has access to regular eye screening, but not everyone attends their appointments. Previous research tells us one barrier to attending is the eye drops that are used during the appointments. Eye drops help to make sure good quality pictures are taken. But they can be uncomfortable and lead to blurry vision.
Newer cameras have been developed that can take clearer photos without the need for eye drops. But image quality can be influenced by levels of eye pigmentation, which often varies across different ethnic groups. So we need to know how well these newer cameras work in people of different ethnicities.
Research aims
Professor Scanlon wants to test the newer cameras in Asian and African-Caribbean people to see whether they can capture better quality photos without the need for eye drops. He’ll test the new camera with 1,800 children and adults attending routine screening visits in the Northeast London Diabetic Eye Screening Programme. Then each participant will have the usual eye test using the older camera and eye drops.
Professor Scanlon will ask the participants to give feedback on their experience. The researchers will then compare the quality of the images from the new and older cameras.
Potential benefit to people with diabetes
Black and Asian people with diabetes have a higher risk of developing more severe retinopathy compared to White people. Removing barriers to attending eye screening is essential for these high-risk groups.
This research will help us find out if a new type of eye screening camera, which avoids use of eye drops, is safe and practical for people from Asian and African-Caribbean backgrounds.
Making eye screening more comfortable and accessible for diverse populations could encourage more people to attend appointments, helping to protect more people from serious eye damage and vision loss.
