Prevalence of Visual Impairment Among Indoor Diabetic Patients at Teaching Hospital of Rawalpindi

• Published in: J. Islamic Int. Med. Coll. 2021-12, Vol.15 (3), p.183-187
• Main Author: Muhammad Shafeh Shehzad , Muhammad Usayd Khan , Saqib Jan Shah , Aneeq Ullah Baig Mirza
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: blindness, diabetes mellitus, diabetic retinopathy, prevalence, visual impairment
• ISSN: 1815-4018; 2410-5422

Objective: To determine the prevalence of blindness and partial sight among the indoor Diabetic patients of a teaching hospital. Study Design: Observational/cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The departments of Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology and st th Ophthalmology at Pakistan Railway Hospital Rawalpindi from 1 November 2018 to 30 November2019. Materials and Methods: History and clinical information of 200 indoor diabetic patients (400 eyes) admitted in the departments of Ophthalmology, Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynecology were noted on organized and institutionalized questionnaire. Detailed ocular examination was performed by a qualified ophthalmologist. Only visual acuity (VA) criteria was used to define visual impairment. The data was evaluated using SPSS version 21. Results: Two hundred indoor diabetic patients (400 eyes) were included in the study. Among them 91 (45.5%) were males and 109 (54.5%) were females. The number of patients having age below 30 years were 7 (3.5%), between 30 to 60 years of age were 84 in number (42%) and 109 patients (54.5%) were over 60 years of age. No visual impairment was found in 38 patients (19%). There was partial sight in 97 patients (48.5) and blindness was recorded in 65 patients (32.5%) of the total. Cataract as the cause of visual impairment was found in 63 patients (38.8%). Diabetic retinopathy was the cause in 55 patients (33.9%). Diabetic macular edema was found in 35 patients (21.6%) and age-related macular degeneration in 7 patients (4.3%). Glaucoma was found in 2 patients (1.2%). Visual impairment in our patients was significantly associated with age, duration of diabetes, BMI, hypertension, heart disease, peripheral neuropathy, pregnancy (p