Background The number of people in India who have diabetes mellitus and its most common microvascular complication, diabetic retinopathy, is steadily rising. This makes it more important than ever to check for the disease early on so that it doesn't get worse and threaten vision. It is anticipated that improved visual outcomes will result from early detection of diabetic retinopathy through efficient screening programs.When compared to the disability loss of blindness, it has been demonstrated that early detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, which has a protracted latent phase, is more cost-effective. A quick and affordable way to diagnose probable diabetic retinopathy is with fundus photography. These days, mobile phones with high-definition cameras are commonplace. The fundus provides a wealth of opportunities for imaging with a mobile phone. This study utilizes a novel technique of smartphone-based mydriatic fundus examination compared with non-mydriatic handheld fundus camera to diagnose diabetic retinopathy at early stages in a rural population at a primary health care setting. Thus, this study helps to calculate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the rural population, to validate the usage of smartphone-based mydriatic fundoscopy and non-mydriatic handheld fundus cameras, and also compares the efficiency of the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and image quality in both of the modalities.

Diabetic Retinopathy, Diabetic macular oedema, proliferative diabetic retinopathy