Referral uptake after diabetic retinopathy screening with artificial intelligence-assisted care pathways: a systematic review and meta-analysis
= 91.9%). Settings which underwent referral pathway transformation from routine to targeted referrals for DR demonstrated the greatest effect size. Most (n = 4) studies also utilised behavioural change interventions enabled by immediate results acquisition of AI to enhance health-seeking behaviour. Our findings suggest the effectiveness of DR screening is derived not only from diagnostic technology, but from AI-enabled care pathway redesign encompassing both health system transformation and coordinated patient-facing interventions which improve referral uptake.
Authors
- John Powell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6124-439X)
- Angus R.J. Barber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6760-9361)
- Michael Kidd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5264-9712)
- James A. Leigh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0307-2814)
- Angus W. Turner
- Alex Sherrington
- Catherine Pope
Institutions
- Lions Eye Institute (AU)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- University of Oxford (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Digital Medicine
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-02616-3
- Primary Topic
- Retinal Imaging and Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of Oxford
- Avant Foundation
- Clarendon Fund