Telemedicine approaches to glaucoma diagnosis demonstrate moderate agreement with traditional in-person evaluations by ophthalmologists and optometrists.
The finding suggests that telemedicine could serve as a viable screening method for glaucoma, particularly in settings where inperson visits may be challenging.
The study, which aimed to compare diagnostic agreement between various assessment methods, included 100 patients with a median age of 66 years.1
Researchers evaluated patients using three distinct methods: in-person examinations by ophthalmologists, by optometrists, and a simulated telemedicine program.
The in-person assessments included dilated exams and optic nerve testing, while the telemedicine approach involved two ophthalmologists reviewing optic nerve tests without knowledge of prior diagnoses.
The study’s primary focus was to determine the inter-rater agreement between each diagnostic method. Diseases considered included several types of glaucoma, other optic nerve disorders, ocular hypertension, and glaucoma suspect cases. Results showed moderate agreement between the ophthalmologist’s in-person diagnosis and the telemedicine assessments. Similarly, there was moderate agreement between the ophthalmologist and optometrist diagnoses.
The agreement between the optometrist’s diagnosis and the telemedicine assessments ranged from fair to moderate. These findings suggest that telemedicine approaches could play a “crucial complementary role in screening and increasing access to care, particularly in rural or underserved settings”.
