Optometric referrals to an ophthalmology outpatients department: classification and sensitivity

The rationale of this study was to find the answers to the following questions: 1. The number of optometric new patient referrals in a month period. 2. The reason for referral. 3. The number of false positives. Of a total of 267 new patients referred to Sunderland Eye Infirmary, 104 were optometrically derived (39%). In this group the most common reason for referral by optometrists was cataract assessment (23%) followed by suspected glaucoma (21%). In the latter group of 22, 15 (68%) were actually diagnosed as suffering from primary open angle glaucoma, or were listed for further assessment. In the former group of 24, 19 patients (83%) were listed for surgery. The three remaining patients were deemed untroubled by any visual symptoms and despite lens opacities maintained 6/12 Snellen visual acuities. The other reasons for referral were macular degeneration (13), decreased visual acuity (8), orthoptic management (7), visual defects (6), corneal (4), central vein occlusion (3), posterior vitreous detachment (3), migraine symptoms (2), epiphora (2), irritation symptoms (2), capsular opacification (2), caruncle cyst (1), retinal haemorrhage (1), pupil irregularity (1), diplopia (1), narrow angles (1) and ptosis with conjunctivitis (1). There appeared to be an inconsistency on the number of tests used for referral criteria and baseline information for all referrals. A guide line on the minimum information that should be included in a referral is discussed for cataract assessment, suspected glaucoma and macular degeneration.