Awareness and knowledge of diabetic retinopathy and associated factors in Goa: A hospital-based cross-sectional study

PURPOSE: To assess the awareness and knowledge about diabetic retinopathy (DR) and associated factors among patients visiting the tertiary health center in Goa. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a standard predesigned and pretested closed-ended structured questionnaire to assess the awareness, knowledge, attitude and practice about DR among patients visiting a tertiary health center. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty-eight subjects participated in the study. Only 125 (34.9% [95% CI: 30.0–40.1]) subjects were aware of DR and 122 (34.1% [95% CI: 29.2–39.2]) had adequate knowledge about DR. Awareness and knowledge of DR were significantly high among the subjects who completed college level of education (66.7%, OR = 2.78; 95% CI: 1.73–4.48, P < 0.001 and 55.9%, OR = 3.92; 95% CI: 2.41–6.38, P < 0.001) and who spoke English (52.5%, OR = 3.37; 95% CI: 2.14–5.30, P < 0.001 and 50.4%, OR = 3.26; 95% CI: 2.07–5.14, P < 0.001). Christians reported better knowledge about DR compared to other religions (48.8%, OR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.38–3.75, P = 0.005). Negative association was noted between the knowledge of DR and presence of diabetes (29.4%, OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.41–0.99, P = 0.048). The practice pattern was strongly associated (OR = 7.47; 95% CI: 4.51–12.38, P < 0.001) with the knowledge of DR. Attitude was not influenced by any of the factors. CONCLUSION: We found that awareness and knowledge about DR were unsatisfactory; literacy contributed significantly toward it. These findings also suggest that there is an immediate need to enhance the awareness and knowledge of diabetic eye diseases in order to reduce the burden of visual impairment.