AWARENESS DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AMONGST KNOWN DIABETICS

Objective: To study awareness regarding Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) amongst established diabetics.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was done at Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Pakistan with technical support from Khyber Institute of Ophthalmic Medical Sciences, Peshawar. Two hundred and two indoor patients were interviewed and duration of diabetes, drugs taken for the control of diabetes, history of any previous eye examination was recorded. Later dilated fundoscopy was done by endocrinologist and finally all the patients were sent for independent assessment by an ophthalmologist for categorizing DR and if needed laser was done for the affected eyes.Results: Of202 patients only 9(4%) patients had optimum diabetic control with HbA,C of <7. Ninety four (47%) had previous eye examination while 108(53%) had never had their eyes examined. Of those examined 77(81.9%0) had been seen by ophthalmologist, 13(13.8%) by physician/endocrinologist and only 4(4.3%) by general practitioners (G.Ps). Dilated fundoscopy showed 118(58%) patients had retinopathy. Thirty eight (18.8%) patients were offered laser treatment after appropriate investigations.Conclusion: Screening and awareness ofDR amongst patients is particularly low in our setup. We need to increase awareness amongst our patients regarding this complication of diabetes.