Awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetes mellitus patients visiting a hospital of North India.

Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of visual disability leading to irreversible blindness. Awareness of diabetes and its ocular co-morbidities may help in preventing vision loss. To assess the awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic mellitus patients visiting a hospital in North India. Cross-sectional study conducted at an outpatient clinic of ophthalmology department of a hospital. An interviewer-administered, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the awareness of DR for the period from July 2020 to January 2021. A total of 272 patients with diabetes mellitus (44.4% females and 55.5% males) were included in the study. The mean age of the study population was 53.4 ± 10 years. Of the 272 patients, 79% were aware that diabetes can affect the eyes, and 69.5% knew that DR can lead to blindness. Regarding prevention and treatment of DR, 58.1% of patients were aware that good glycemic control prevents DR and 52.6% knew that DR can be treated. Physicians were the main source of information in 47.4% of patients. The participants were not compliant with a routine retinal assessment with only 26.5% of them having previous fundus examination for DR screening. Most of the participants were aware of DR but there existed major deficits in the knowledge and behavior of diabetic patients toward management of DR. There is a need to create awareness about DR and emphasize the importance of retinal screening to reduce visual disability caused by diabetes.