Awareness, knowledge, and practices related to diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients in primary healthcare centers at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

CONTEXT

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular complication for diabetes mellitus (DM), with around 35% of diabetic patients developing some form of DR.

AIMS

This study assessed the awareness toward DR, practice of regular eye examination, and DM control among diabetic patients.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study among diabetics at two primary healthcare centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who were selected by convenience sampling.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

The questionnaire contained sections for demography, knowledge, attitude, and practice toward DR, and compliance to DM treatment. The association of awareness about retinopathy with demographics was compared.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

The association of awareness about retinopathy and education level with demographics and compliance with treatment were compared using Chi-square test.

RESULTS

In total, 280 diabetic patients were included, 187 (67%) were males, mean age was 58.9 ± 10.1 years, and median duration of diabetes was 10 years. There was good awareness about DR, diabetes was well controlled in 170 (61%) patients, but less than half (45%) had their eyes checked within 1 year. Patients with education level of high school and above had higher awareness than those with no formal education ( < 0.001). Also, those with income level >10,000 SR had higher awareness than those with income ≤5,000 SR ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

There was high awareness among the diabetic patients regarding DR but annual check-up was done in less than half of the patients. Improvement is required for scheduling annual eye examinations for the early detection of DR.