Curriculum for General Practice - The Royal New Zealand College ...

E
Eyes
Eyes
Conditions involving the eye vary between
totally mild to extremely serious often with
similar presentations. Some conditions
may cause blindness; this can include
glaucoma, temporal arteritis, cataracts or
macular degeneration among others. The
awareness of the symptoms related to
these conditions, preventable causes and
the management of these is essential to
general practice.
The most recent Disability Survey conducted by Statistics
New Zealand in 2006 found a total of 71,100 people in
New Zealand with sight loss, including 11,400 children
and 59,700 adults. 1 Māori experience higher rates of sight
loss – one study estimated that in 2009, around 12,000
Māori people had sight loss, and more than 600 were
blind. 2 Rates of sight loss will increase as New Zealand’s
population ages, with some studies estimating that, by
2020, the number of people aged 40 years or over with
vision loss may rise to nearly 174,000, including almost
19,000 Māori people with sight loss. 3
The increasing incidence of diabetes will also contribute
to poor health outcomes in relation to eye disease and
especially in populations at risk. This will include Māori
and Pacific populations, where the prevalence of diabetes
is around three times higher than among other New
Zealanders. Prevalence is also high among South Asian
populations. 4 The contribution of primary care in managing
diabetes, and reducing the eye-related morbidity because
of it, is significant.
A general practitioner should have the skills to thoroughly
examine the eye, diagnose significant conditions and
provide appropriate referral and, when necessary, perform
eye-related procedures within their scope. The skills
required may differ within the general practice setting a
general practitioner works in.
1
Office for Disability Issues and Statistics New Zealand. 2009. Disability and informal care in New Zealand in 2006: Results from the New Zealand Disability Survey, report
for Statistics New Zealand, Wellington.
2
Access Economics for VISION 2020 New Zealand and VISION 2020 Australia. 2010. Clear Focus: the Economic Impact of vision loss in New Zealand 2009. Canberra:
Access Economics.
3
Access Economics for VISION 2020 New Zealand and VISION 2020 Australia. 2010. Clear Focus: the Economic Impact of vision loss in New Zealand 2009. Canberra:
Access Economics.
4
http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/diabetes/about-diabetes Accessed April 2012.
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Curriculum for General Practice