Awareness of eye complications and prevalence of retinopathy in the first visit to eye clinic among type 2 diabetic patients

• Published in: International journal of ophthalmology 2011, Vol.4 (5), p.519-524
• Main Authors: Tajunisah, I, Wong, Ps, Tan, Lt, Rokiah, P, Reddy, Sc
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: awa-reness; Clinical Research; complications; diabetic; eye; retinopathy; screening
• ISSN: 2222-3959; 2227-4898; 2222-3959
• DOI: 10.3980/j.issn.2222-3959.2011.05.12

AIM:To assess the awareness of eye complications and the prevalence of retinopathy,in the first visit to eye clinic,among type 2 diabetic patients attending a tertiary medical centre in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.METHODS:An investigator-administered questionnaire was given to 137 patients with diabetes undergoing first time eye screening in the eye clinic.This was followed by a detailed fundus examination by a senior ophthalmologist to assess for presence of retinopathy.RESULTS:Almost 86% of respondents were aware of diabetic eye complications,especially in patients who had achieved tertiary educational level(96.3%).The majority of the patients(78.8%) were referred by their physicians and only 20.4% came on their own initiative.Many of the patients(43.8%) did not know how frequent they should go for an eye check-up and 72.3% did not know what treatments were available.Lack of understanding on diabetic eye diseases(68.6%) was the main barrier for most patients for not coming for eye screening earlier.Despite a high level of awareness,only 21.9% had recorded HbA1c level of <6.5% while 31.4% were under the erroneous assumption of having a good blood sugar control.A total of 29.2% had diabetic retinopathy in their first visit eye testing.CONCLUSION:In the present study,29.2% of type 2 diabetic patients had retinopathy in their first time eye testing.Although the awareness of diabetic eye complications was high among first time eye screening patients,the appropriate eye care-seeking behavior was comparatively less and should be rectified to prevent the rise of this sight threatening eye disease.