Awareness of diabetic retinopathy among people with diabetes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Sami H Alzahrani, Marwan A Bakarman, Saleh M Alqahtani, Maha S Alqahtani, Nadeem Shafique Butt, Emad M Salawati, Ahmad Alkatheri, Ahmad Azam Malik, Khaled Saad

Full text: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2042018818758621

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Abstract

Background:Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and the foremost cause of blindness. This study aimed to assess the level of awareness of DR and its related risk factors among patients with DM in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with DM attending primary health care centers at the Ministry of Health in Jeddah. A structured, pretested, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the sociodemographic and DM- and DR-related characteristics of the patients.Results:A total of 377 patients were enrolled. About 82.6% of the patients were aware that DM can affect their eyes, and they listed physicians, ophthalmologists, television, and family members as common sources of information on the topic. About 36% of the patients reported that their doctors had not advised them about it. More than half responded that they did not feel their vision to be affected by DM. More than 58% had nev...

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