| Demographic Group: | Resident persons aged >=18 years. |
| Numerator: | Respondents aged >=18 years ever told by a doctor or health professional that they have diabetes (excluding women who were told only when pregnant) who report having received a dilated eye exam within the previous year. |
| Denominator: | Respondents aged >=18 years ever told by a doctor or health professional that they have diabetes (excluding women who were told only when pregnant, refusals, and unknowns). |
| Measures of Frequency: | Annual prevalence — crude and age-adjusted (as standardized by the CDC Division of Diabetes Translation to the 2000 U.S. Standard Population, using the direct method) — with 95% confidence interval. Where feasible, 3-year averages were used. Not all states have complete data for each year of monitoring; therefore, each 3-year average estimate is composed of at least two years of data. U.S. estimates are based on single years of data. |
| Time Period of Case Definition: | Previous year. |
| Background: | In 2002, approximately 70% of adults with diabetes reported having received a dilated eye exam within the previous year. |
| Significance: | Routine dilated eye examinations can lead to early detection and effective treatment of complications. Persons with diabetes are at increased risk for blindness as a result of retinopathy. Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults aged 20–74 years. |
| Limitations of Indicator: | Respondents might not distinguish between eye examinations that are dilated and those that are not. |
| Data Resources: | Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/ |
| Limitations of Data Resources: | Data from multiple years might be aggregated to increase the sample size. As with all self-reported sample surveys, BRFSS data might be subject to systematic error resulting from noncoverage (e.g., lower telephone coverage among populations of low socioeconomic status), nonresponse (e.g., refusal to participate in the survey or to answer specific questions), or measurement (e.g., social desirability or recall bias). The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) can be used as an alternative data source; however, the size of the sample from NHIS might not be adequate for calculating stable, state-specific estimates. |
| Healthy People 2010 Objectives: | 5-13: Increase the proportion of adults with diabetes who have an annual dilated eye examination. |
