Automated Screening of Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-related Macular Degeneration in Selected Vision Express Ophthalmic Out-patients Clinics in Poland – a Pilot Study

Background
The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients undergoing screening in selected Vision Express out-patients clinics in Poland with the artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm (RetinaLyze software).

Material and methods
The study design was a retrospective, comparative case series. All subjects had detailed eye examinations which included: intraocular pressure measurements, visual acuity testing, cover test, binocular vision assessments and color fundus photos of both eyes with digital cameras. All fundus photos were then analyzed by RetinaLyze software to detect signs of eye diseases (either AMD or DR).

Results
In total, 13850 of adult subjects underwent the eye screening programme between 1st of January 2019 to 30th of June 2019 in fifty three Vision Express (VE) clinics in fifteen regions of Poland and 2475 (17.9%) of them have been recognized by RetinaLyze software to have either DR or AMD lesions in the retina. The highest rates of patients recognized to have either DR or AMD were in South-East regions of Poland (Lubelskie, Małopolskie and Podkarpackie province as calculated by 31.8%, 39.0% and 40.1%, respectively). The lowest rate of patients (only 1.9%) recognized by AI to have DR or AMD was in Podlaskie province in North-East of Poland.

Conclusions
in summary, our study showed the total rate of patients with retinal diseases in population screened in selected VE out-patients clinics in Poland is higher than in general population.