Diabetics Retinopathy Knowledge and Awareness Assessment among the Type 2 Diabetics

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. In Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, several studies estimated the prevalence of DR ranging from 30 - 40%.AIM:To assess the DR knowledge and its association with diabetes control among Type 2 diabetic patients.METHODS:A cross-sectional study of patients with Type II diabetes (T2D) who had a routine visit to the endocrine clinic to assess the DR knowledge and its relation to the glycemic control. We used a questionnaire that was used in previously published studies, and the reliability was assessed using the alpha Cronbach coefficient. Patients who answered correctly > 60% were considered to have good knowledge about DR.RESULTS:Total of 253 patients participated, 43.4% has diabetes > 10 years and 30.7% have it for 5 - 10 years, 36.4% did college degree or higher, 40.8% considered having low income. 37.7% of participants were not screened for the DR in the past year. 28.4% of participants think that seeing optometrist is enough for DR diagnosis. Diabetics with good knowledge who have T2D > 10 years were 46.3% compared to 38.6% (p = 0.04). Diabetics with good knowledge have mean A1c of 8.55 vs. 8.59 (p = 0.32), mean BMI 30.4 vs. 30.2 (p = 0.46), mean diastolic pressure was 77.12% vs. 79.48% (p = 0.03).CONCLUSION:Almost two-thirds of screened T2D were considered to have good knowledge about DR. The good knowledge group tends to have a longer duration of T2D, more likely to have a college degree, and tend to have non -significantly better A1c control.

Awareness of Diabetic Retinopathy Among Type II Diabetic Patients Attending at King Salman Armed Forced Hospital-Primary Health Care, Tabuk 2019

“…On the other hand, poor knowledge of retinopathy delays seeking cares and finally greater risk of blindness. Raising awareness for diabetic patients to know about retinopathy would improve early detection of problems and reduces the delay of seeking ophthalmology care [3], [4]. The present study aimed to evaluate knowledge of 382 diabetic patients about retinopathy and the factors associated with insufficient knowledge among them.…”

“…Knowledge of retinopathy is an essential step for an appropriate and timely referral. Delay in seeking care is one of the key factors leading to eye complications [3]. Therefore, sufficient knowledge of retinopathy is fundamental to diabetic patients for proper medical care services [4].…”

Determinants of diabetic retinopathy in Southwest Ethiopia: a facility-based case-control study

“…Illiterate diabetic patients had seven times higher odds of developing DR than literate patients. Studies conducted in Saudi Arabia [25], Korea [26] and Sudan [18] suggest that less educated or who had no formal education had a high probability of developing DR than who attained higher classes. Another finding from Tokyo suggests that lack of proper educational attainment was significantly associated with the progression of retinopathy [27].…”

Awareness of various aspects of diabetes among people visiting tertiary eye care institute in north India

“…Twenty five percent of the diabetic participants were aware of diabetic retinopathy. However Alzahrani et al, 15 Almalki et al, 16 Lingam et al, 17 and Lian et al 18 reported high prevalence of awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic people. Shah et al reported that 63% of diabetics screened in their study were not aware of diabetic retinopathy.…”