Awareness of diabetic retinopathy among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary health care in security forces hospital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease that is characterized by distortion in the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins and involves hyperglycemia. DM has different types. Several complications are associated with diabetes including diabetic retinopathy (DR). DR can further results in bad outcomes that can be avoided by early diagnosis and management. Aim: The aim of this paper is to assess the awareness and knowledge level about DR among type 2 DM patients in primary health care in security forces hospital. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted on Saudi patients with type 2 DM who visited primary health care in security forces hospital. Results: This study included 174 participants, with equal male to female ratio was 1:1, there were 64.9% participants who reported controlled blood glucose level, and 47.1% reported that eye was affected by diabetes. There were 82.8% participants who had awareness about DR; the level of awareness differs significantly with sex ( P value = 0.04) and the level of DM control ( P value = 0.02). Conclusion: There was high level of knowledge regarding DR; however, there were few percent of participants who had no awareness and still at risk.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice around Diabetic Eye Disease among Diabetic Patients in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

“…[ 22 ] Older diabetic patients are more likely to have longer durations of DM, which has been correlated with better knowledge about DM complications including DR.[ 23 ] However, our current study did not provide this level of differentiation, which is considered a limitation in this study, and can be included in future studies. In addition, the current analysis showed that DM duration did not independently predict KAP as has been reported by some authors,[ 20 24 ] suggesting instead that KAP are outcomes of the interaction of multiple factors rather than one factor. Possible explanations for the high levels of KAP about diabetic eye disease among older patients include frequent interaction with health staff and past experience with DM complications including hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.…”

“…Our analysis of the association between gender and knowledge of eye disease yielded a female predominance in patients with satisfactory levels of knowledge and practice. Some of the previous studies did not find gender as a factor determining KAP of diabetic eye disease[ 18 19 24 ] or showed that males were more likely than females to be aware of DR.[ 20 ] Although there is a large body of evidence suggesting that women seek health care more than men,[ 25 26 ] our data could have been affected by the uneven gender distribution (female-to-male ratio: 1.8:1), and thus, the relationship between female gender and satisfactory KAP found in this study warrants further investigation to reach definitive conclusions.…”

“…In comparison to a previous study using the same questionnaire and grading system, we demonstrated a lower KAP level than had been found among patients with DM in Oman. [ 16 ] Some of the previous studies conducted in Saudi Arabia have found that Saudi patients with DM had high to acceptable levels of DR awareness,[ 8 18 19 20 21 ] while other studies did not. For example, Alanazi et al .…”

Evaluating Awareness and Practices Towards Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy in Adult Patients Attending the Eye Clinic in a Tertiary Academic Hospital in Jordan

“…These observations are in congruence with the available literature, where the level of education is the most consistent predictor of awareness scores. 16 , 25 , 27 , 28 Interestingly, only the duration of DM and HbA1c levels were significantly associated with the prevalence of DR in our cohort. In fact, those variables are well-known predictors of DR development.…”

Serum ω-6/ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ratio and diabetic retinopathy: A propensity score matching based case-control study in China

“…Previous studies have recognised the critical role of dyslipidemia in neovascular eye diseases, including DR [6] . And available evidence suggests that lipids metabolism may play a central role in the initiation and progression of DR [7] .…”