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New pilot trial paper published in BMJ Open

21 Oct 2021

The paper outlines how we investigated the feasibility and preliminary effects of an intervention to improve uptake of Ireland’s national diabetic retinopathy programme, Diabetic RetinaScreen, among patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

To be most effective ‘implementation interventions’, methods used to enhance the implementation of clinical interventions like diabetic retinopathy should target multiple levels. Various interventions to improve diabetic retinopathy uptake have been shown to be effective, but few have focused on primary care and targeted both professionals and patients. This pilot randomised controlled trial reports one of few interventions to support the implementation of diabetic retinopathy screening in primary care and target both professionals and patients. The study found that enablers of feasibility included practice culture and capacity to protect time, systems to organise care, staff skills, and workarounds to improve intervention ‘fit’. At 6 months, 22/71 (31%) of baseline non-attenders in intervention practices subsequently attended screening compared with 15/87 (17%) in control practices. You can read the full paper here.

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