Efficacy of teleophthalmology: Experience at the Mexican Institute of Ophthalmology

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the search for new methods of accessing health services, highlighting teleophthalmology as a promising alternative.

This study aimed to evaluate the concordance between diagnoses made through teleophthalmology and those obtained in high-specialty in-person consultations, with the purpose of determining whether teleophthalmology can be a viable and complementary diagnostic tool to traditional ophthalmology.

Methodology: An observational, descriptive, study was conducted at the Vision Center of the Mexican Institute of Ophthalmology in San Juan del Río, Querétaro, during 2021. Patients attended via teleophthalmology who subsequently visited for an in-person consultation were included.

Results: Of the 2,133 patients assessed through teleophthalmology, 993 (46.55%) were referred to specialized services, of which 696 (70%) attended an in-person consultation. The most frequent diagnoses were cataract (23.5%), glaucoma or suspected glaucoma (12.49%), and ametropia (8.39%). The concordance between the initial diagnosis by teleophthalmology and the final in-person diagnosis was 89.1% (p < 0.05), with a correlation coefficient of 88% according to Cohen's Kappa test.

Conclusions: Teleophthalmology demonstrated a high degree of diagnostic accuracy, emerging as an effective solution to expand access to specialized ophthalmological services, especially in areas where in-person care is limited.