The effect of geodemographic factors on the attendance rates at a regional diabetic retinopathy treatment centre.

Aim: To determine whether geodemographic factors, specifically age, gender or commuting distance, affect the attendance rates of patients referred to a Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment (DRT) Centre from the Irish National Diabetic Retinal Screening (DRS) Programme.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of the first 1200 patients who were referred for ophthalmic assessment between November 2013 and June 2015 to Cork University Hospital's (CUH) DRT clinic from the DRS was completed.

Results: A total of 972 (81%) patients attended all their scheduled DRT appointments.