Abstract:

 Objective To Investigate and analyze knowledge of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in type 2 diabetic patients, and its correlation with the degree of DR. Design Cross-sectional survey. Participants Recruited type 2 diabetic patients who visited Beijing Tongren Hospital(34 cases) and Beijing Desheng community health service center(80 cases). Methods All patients were surveyed using a standardized questionnaire, including general information, diabetes and its treatment, diabetic eye disease related knowledge. And fundus examinations were performed on all patients. We staged its severity according to the DR staging criteria and selected the more severe eye of each individual into analysis. We compared knowledge of DR between patients from hospital and community, and analyze its correlation with the severity of DR. Statistical analysis was performed using the R statistical software package. Main Outcome Measures Patients’ recognition rate of DR. Results Beijing Desheng community health service center (80 cases). All patients visiting Beijing Tongren Hospital had DR; including 85.3% PDR. The prevalence of DR in patients from community was 21.3%, with 6.3% PDR. 41.2% of the hospital patients knew diabetes could affect visual acuity, significantly less than 91.3% in the community patients (P<0.001). 17.7% of hospital patients knew diabetes can cause blindness, less than 90.0% in the community patients (P<0.001). 14.7%of the hospital patients knew they needed regular ocular examinations, less than 83.8% in the community patients (P<0.001)). 14.7% of the hospital patients knew DR, less than 81.0% of the community patients (P<0.001). 5.9% of the hospital patients knew DR could be prevented, less than 46.8% in the community patients (P=0.046). 27.3%(9/33) of Tongren patients’ physician suggested ocular examination, less than 71.8%(56/78) in the community patients (P=0.003). The recognition that diabetes mellitus (DM) could affect visual acuity, DM could cause blindness, the need of regular eye check and whether or not to know DR in DWR patients was significantly higher than DR patients (P<0.05). In Parallel, the knowledge in BDR patients was significantly better than PDR patients (P<0.05). Conclusion Lower recognition of DR was significantly correlated with more severe DR. Strengthen health education of DR in diabetic patients is essential for improving vision prognosis.

Key words: diabetic retinopathy, recognition