Knowledge on Diabetic Retinopathy among Diabetes Mellitus Patients Attending the Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic retinopathy is a chronic, progressive and potentially sight threatening disease and the most commonly diagnosed complication of diabetes. Its incidence increases with prolonged duration of diabetes and accounts for a significant amount of morbidities that are directly related to diabetes as it is one of the leading causes of visual handicap. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of diabetic retinopathy among diagnosed diabetic patients, attending clinics at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital (CSTH). OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess the knowledge of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients at CSTH. (2) To assess the association between the duration of diabetes and the knowledge on diabetic retinopathy. (3) To assess the association between the education level and the knowledge on diabetic retinopathy. (4) To assess the association between the socio-economic background and the knowledge on diabetic retinopathy. METHODOLOGY: The data collection was carried out over a period of 12 weeks, during which an interviewer administered questionnaire was distributed among 200 respondents attending clinics at CSTH. Systematic random sampling was used as the sampling technique and data was analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. Descriptive data was presented as numbers and percentages and the difference between the categories was decided with the chi square test. RESULTS: Analysis of data revealed that 31% (62) of the study population had a good knowledge of diabetic retinopathy while 69.0% had poor knowledge, implying that a significant proportion of patients have a poor knowledge on diabetic retinopathy (DR). A significant association between the level of knowledge and the duration of the disease (< 5 years or = > 5 years), was identified in the present study. Level of education and level of income had a significant association with knowledge. Educational level of the spouse too was a significant factor (P < 0.05) under the category of family support. Sources of information had a significant association with the level of knowledge. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the study population was found to be poor. A statistically significant association between knowledge of diabetic retinopathy and the following variables, which included the duration of diabetes, socio-economic background, family support and the sources of information was identified.

Awareness About Diabetic Retinopathy Among Diabetic Patients in Rural Area of Central Kerala

“…Study conducted at other places also revealed significant relation between duration and knowledge. [14,15,16] In the present study, about 70% gave correct response to the questions to assess the knowledge and about 25% were not aware of the disease. Studies conducted at Colombo showed only 31% having good knowledge.…”

“…Studies conducted at Colombo showed only 31% having good knowledge. [14] Ramiz Hussain et al reported 619 (40.7%) out of 1538 patients with diabetes mellitus to have good knowledge of the disease [ 15,16 ]. In our study, 32.4% were unaware that DR depends on duration of the disease and 24% did not know that DR leads to blindness.…”

<p>Does a diabetic retinopathy educational program raise awareness among elderly diabetic patients?</p>

“…Also, Geethadevi M et al 30 found that 60.8% had no knowledge of diabetic retinopathy and Panigrahi S et al 31 reported that 69.0% of the study population had poor knowledge of diabetic retinopathy. This implies that a significant proportion of diabetic patients have poor knowledge of diabetic DR and that there is a need for educational program about DR. 32 Concerning the relation between participants' knowledge in pre/post tests and socio-demographic characteristics, these results revealed the lowest mean knowledge score 5.20±0.1 was seen in illiterate respondents while in educated respondents it was 5.74±0.2 and became 16.56 ±1.8 and 16.69±1.8 respectively in post-test, with a statistically significant relation of p-value <0.001. This further supports the proposition that education is important in creating awareness and education has a significant role in improving patients' information.…”

Awareness and Knowledge of Diabetic Eye Disease Among Diabetic Patients Presenting to Eye Opd in Central India

“…Also, literates had more knowledge with 28% as compared to 6.7% for the illiterates. Bimalka Seneviratne 19 in Sri Lanka found that 49.5% literate patients had good knowledge about DR, while only 12.5% illiterate patients.…”

“…This may be due to the increased number of visits to the physician and hence greater chances of being better aware of diabetic eye disease. In a study conducted by Bimalka Seneviratne 19 in Sri Lanka, they found that 76.3% patients having diabetes for less than 5 years had poor knowledge regarding DR, while 58.5% patients having diabetes for more than 5 years had good knowledge.…”