TY - JOUR T1 - Effect of ethnicity and other sociodemographic factors on attendance at diabetic eye screening: a 12-month retrospective cohort study JF - BMJ Open JO - BMJ Open DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046264 VL - 11 IS - 9 SP - e046264 AU - Abraham Olvera-Barrios AU - Michael Seltene AU - Tjebo F C Heeren AU - Ryan Chambers AU - Louis Bolter AU - Adnan Tufail AU - Christopher G Owen AU - Alicja R Rudnicka AU - Catherine Egan AU - John Anderson Y1 - 2021/09/01 UR - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/9/e046264.abstract N2 - Objectives To examine the association of sociodemographic characteristics with attendance at diabetic eye screening in a large ethnically diverse urban population.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting Screening visits in the North East London Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (NELDESP).Participants 84 449 people with diabetes aged 12 years or older registered in the NELDESP and scheduled for screening between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018.Main outcome measure Attendance at diabetic eye screening appointments.Results The mean age of people with diabetes was 60 years (SD 14.2 years), 53.4% were men, 41% South Asian, 29% White British and 17% Black; 83.4% attended screening. Black people with diabetes had similar levels of attendance compared with White British people. However, South Asian, Chinese and 'Any other Asian' background ethnicities showed greater odds of attendance compared with White British. When compared with their respective reference group, high levels of deprivation, younger age, longer duration of diabetes and worse visual acuity, were all associated with non-attendance. There was a higher likelihood of attendance per quintile improvement in deprivation (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.08), with increasing age (OR per decade, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.19), with better visual acuity (OR per Bailey-Lovie chart line 1.12; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.14) and with longer time of NELDESP registration (OR per year, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.03).Conclusion Ethnic differences in diabetic eye screening uptake, though small, are evident. Despite preconceptions, a higher likelihood of screening attendance was observed among Asian ethnic groups when compared with the White ethnic group. Poorer socioeconomic profile was associated with higher likelihood of non-attendance for screening. Further work is needed to understand how to target individuals at risk of non-attendance and reduce inequalities.Data are available upon reasonable request. The data that supports the findings of this study are available from the North East London Diabetic Eye Screening Programme upon reasonable request. ER -