Publication:

Knowledge attitude practice study of diabetic retinopathy

Background Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is an important cause of visual impairment. It is preventable with proper screening and treatment of diabetes. Therefore, it is necessary to assess awareness of the disease in the population and educate them. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding diabetes and DR in India.

Methods We conducted a knowledge, attitude, and practice study of 1152 participants belonging to various economic backgrounds across India, using a validated questionnaire from Shri C. H. Nagri Eye Institute, Ahmedabad. We divided the study population into diabetics and non-diabetics. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20.

Results Out of 1152, 121 (10.5%) were diabetics and 1031 (89.5%) were nondiabetics. Mean age of diabetics (55.71) was higher than non-diabetics (37.55) (p<0.001). Only 34% of non-diabetics and 55% of diabetics knew about DR. There was a positive co-relation between knowledge of diabetes (r=0.262, p<0.001) and DR (r=0.096, p=0.031) with the level of education. Only 20% admitted that diabetics were at a higher risk for eye problems. A significant portion of participants (40%) said they were never counselled for DR and 54% never had a fundus examination.

Conclusions The There is a clear lack of knowledge regarding diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. An alarming percentage of patients were never told about the complications and need for regular fundus examinations. There is an urgent need to increase its awareness. A collaborative approach of general-practitioners, ophthalmologists, diabetologist as well as health-policy makers is required to provide needs-based, context-specific comprehensive diabetic care in India.