Authors : S Shobika, Sanjeev Kumar Puri
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijceo.2020.036
Volume : 6
Issue : 2
Year : 2020
Page No : 165-169
Objective: To assess the level of awareness about diabetic retinopathy among Type 2 diabetes mellitus
patients in and around Chennai.
Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was done on 150 Type-2 diabetes mellitus patients in
and around Chennai between January 2019 to April 2019, to assess their level of awareness about diabetes
retinopathy through a structured questionnaire.
Results: Of 150 randomly selected Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, 93 (62%) were women and 57 (38%)
were males. 32% of them were illiterates, 31.33% had only primary education and 36.67% had education
above middle school. 64.67% of the selected patients wore glasses for refractive error and they were aged
from 15yrs to 80yrs. Nearly 3/4th of this urban population are aware about diabetic retinopathy and feel
blood glucose control and regular eye check-ups are necessary in reducing the risk of diabetic retinopathy,
less than 1/4th know about blindness caused by DR, that laser treatment does not improve the vision but only
reduces further deterioration and when a diabetic patient should first visit the eye doctor- therein suggestive
that most are aware of the disease but are not well informed about the complications and treatment of the
disease.
Keywords: Blindness, Awareness, Diabetes mellitus, Diabetic retinopathy.