Patient ignorance is the main reason for treatment delay in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in The Netherlands.

Aims: Treatment delay of progressive vision-threatening conditions should be minimal. In this study, the treatment delay of patients with a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) undergoing retinal detachment surgery was quantified, and causes for this delay were evaluated.

Materials And Methods: Consecutive patients (n=205) presenting with a primary RRD between June 2006 and June 2007 at the tertiary referral center (TRC) were interviewed. Five categories of delay were discerned in the following: 'patient delay,' 'general practitioner's delay,' 'referring ophthalmologist's delay,' 'delay at the TRC' and 'delay before surgery at the TRC'. In addition, overall delay was calculated.

Results: In total, 186 eyes were included in the analysis. Median overall delay between the patients' first symptoms and RRD surgery was 10 days. Almost 60% of this overall delay time was due to patient delay and the delay of the general practitioner. More than 50% of patients had a delay owing to unawareness of the symptoms. The median patient delay was significantly lower in patients with a vitreous hemorrhage and in patients with a history of a RRD in the fellow eye.

Conclusions: The major reason for patient delay with a RDD was the patients' unawareness and unfamiliarity with the symptoms of a retinal detachment.