Awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetes mellitus patients visiting a hospital of North India

CONTEXT: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major cause of visual disability leading to irreversible blindness. Awareness of diabetes and its ocular co-morbidities may help in preventing vision loss. AIM: To assess the awareness of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic mellitus patients visiting a hospital in North India. SETTING AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional study conducted at an outpatient clinic of ophthalmology department of a hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An interviewer-administered, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to evaluate the awareness of DR for the period from July 2020 to January 2021. RESULTS: A total of 272 patients with diabetes mellitus (44.4% females and 55.5% males) were included in the study. The mean age of the study population was 53.4 ± 10 years. Of the 272 patients, 79% were aware that diabetes can affect the eyes, and 69.5% knew that DR can lead to blindness. Regarding prevention and treatment of DR, 58.1% of patients were aware that good glycemic control prevents DR and 52.6% knew that DR can be treated. Physicians were the main source of information in 47.4% of patients. The participants were not compliant with a routine retinal assessment with only 26.5% of them having previous fundus examination for DR screening. CONCLUSION: Most of the participants were aware of DR but there existed major deficits in the knowledge and behavior of diabetic patients toward management of DR. There is a need to create awareness about DR and emphasize the importance of retinal screening to reduce visual disability caused by diabetes.