Khatib Faisal, Abu Tarboush Nafez, Abu-Yaghi Nakhleh, Alazzam Mohammad, Al-Ani Abdallah, Mafrachi Baraa
Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Department of Special Surgery - Ophthalmology Division, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Clin Ophthalmol. 2021 Mar 26;15:1309-1316. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S299711. eCollection 2021.
Awareness of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications, particularly diabetic retinopathy (DR), is one of the main factors of early detection and improved management. This study aims to assess the level of awareness of DM type 2 complications in a cohort of Jordanian patients, with special emphasis on DR.
A total of 176 consecutive patients with DM type 2 attending the ophthalmology clinic at Jordan University Hospital were included in the study. Each participant responded to a questionnaire which assessed their awareness and behaviors towards DM type 2 and DR.
A total of 176 individuals with diabetes responded to the invitation to participate. They were 93 (52.8%) males and 83 (47.2%) females. Mean age (±SEM) for the study population was 60.6 (±0.82) years. Of all participants, 93.8% were aware that diabetes can affect the eyes. Only 4.5% reported that DR could occur without symptoms and/or loss of vision. Symptoms affecting the eyes were the main cause behind attending the ophthalmology clinic in 60.8% of the cases. The awareness score of participants for DM and DR ranged from 4 to 15 out of 20 with a mean score of 11.4/20. Statistically significant relationships of awareness mean score were observed with gender, educational level, employment status, insurance status, Hemoglobin (Hb) A1c level, and dyslipidemia as a co-morbidity (p<0.05). Binary logistic regression revealed disease duration and HbA1c as the main predictive factors of having DR.
Among this cohort of Jordanian individuals with diabetes, awareness towards DM and DR was relatively low, and patient practices did not correlate with perceived awareness. Awareness scores correlated with HbA1c readings and higher educational levels among other variables. Emphasis on communication strategies and patient education is essential in establishing efficient screening programs and effective strategies to curtail visual impairment and other complications of the diabetes pandemic.
对糖尿病（DM）及其并发症，尤其是糖尿病视网膜病变（DR）的认知是早期发现和改善治疗的主要因素之一。本研究旨在评估一组约旦患者对2型糖尿病并发症的认知水平，特别关注DR。
本研究纳入了约旦大学医院眼科门诊连续就诊的176例2型糖尿病患者。每位参与者都回答了一份问卷，该问卷评估了他们对2型糖尿病和DR的认知及行为。
共有176名糖尿病患者回应了参与邀请。其中男性93名（52.8%），女性83名（47.2%）。研究人群的平均年龄（±标准误）为60.6（±0.82）岁。在所有参与者中，93.8%的人知道糖尿病会影响眼睛。只有4.5%的人报告说DR可能在没有症状和/或视力丧失的情况下发生。在60.8%的病例中，影响眼睛的症状是就诊眼科门诊的主要原因。参与者对DM和DR的认知得分在20分中从4分到15分不等，平均得分为11.4/20。观察到认知平均得分与性别、教育水平、就业状况、保险状况、糖化血红蛋白（Hb）A1c水平以及作为合并症的血脂异常之间存在统计学显著关系（p<0.05）。二元逻辑回归显示疾病持续时间和HbA1c是患有DR的主要预测因素。
在这组约旦糖尿病患者中，对DM和DR的认知相对较低，患者的行为与感知到的认知不相关。认知得分与HbA1c读数以及其他变量中的较高教育水平相关。强调沟通策略和患者教育对于建立有效的筛查计划以及减少糖尿病大流行导致的视力损害和其他并发症的有效策略至关重要。
