[The competence and skills of the family physician in ophthalmology].

Abstract

Background: In order to facilitate interprofessional collaboration and continuing education, it is necessary to define the family doctor (FD) work profile in ophthalmology and that this profile is accepted by FD and specialized doctors.

Methods: A questionnaire with 42 activities and 18 skills, belonging to the scope of ophthalmology was sent to 20 ophthalmologists in the Health Area of Pamplona. They were asked to value each item and to express whether they thought it belonged to the FD activity scope. The answers from 16 specialized doctors are compared with the answers from 16 FD.

Results: 30 activities and 12 skills are considered to be a part of the FD scope by 75% of them, compared with 22 activities and 10 skills accepted by the ophthalmologists. More that 75% of these ones express their disagreement with three activities: identification of traumatic wounds in both cameras, surveillance of eye-pressure in patients at risk, surveillance of chronic glaucoma and early care of wounds in the eye globe; and in three skills: valuation of iridocorneal angle, enlargement of the eye pupil and verification of lacrimal conduct permeability. In 9 items, statistically significant differences were found (p 0.05) between both groups answers. Among them, the examinations and surveillance of retinopathies in vascular and metabolic diseases, stands out.

Conclusions: Our study shows a disparity of positions, which may raise difficulties to the interprofessional collaboration between both groups. It is recommended to study the factors, which might have an influence on this disagreement. The elaborated list constitutes a progress in the definition of FD profile in ophthalmology, although it would be necessary to carry out more studies.