The quality of retinoscopy in 70 patients with diabetes mellitus performed by 7 general practitioners and one ophthalmologist was compared with a color picture of the central retina. The mean kappa index of the general practitioners was 0.21 (-0.11-0.73). This implies that the skills of general practitioners are currently inadequate to take care of the screening for diabetic retinopathy. The ophthalmologist scored insufficiently by examining without dilating the pupil.