Are Diabetic Patients Aware of The Danger in Turkey?

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess the awareness of the diabetic retinopathy and the level of the diabetic retinopathy in the diabetic patients, which consulted to the state hospitals in Turkey.

Methods: A total of 1071 patients, admitted to 8 different state hospitals' ophthalmology clinics around the country, were included to this cross sectional multicentred study. All diabetic patients were asked to respond specifically prepared questionnaire including diabetic retinopathy and diabetes mellitus and underwent fundus examination to assess the diabetic retinopathy level.

Results: The mean age of the study population was 57.5 years and the 57.4 % of the patients were women. 34.7% of the patients' were responded "NO" to the question of "Are you aware of the eye complications of diabetes mellitus?". The study also showed that 200 of 699 patients (28.6%) who aware of the diabetic retinopathy, despite having this information do not have regular eye examination for the diabetic retinopathy. It was seen that even 40.62% (26/64) of the college graduates don't go regular checks. The majority of the aware patients (40.5 %) pointed out that they took information from internal medicine or endocrinologists and the 28.1% of the patients were informed from elsewhere (family, neighbor, TV, etc.).

Conclusion: One third of the subjects monitored were not aware of diabetic retinopathy. It is noteworthy to emphasize the importance of the routine eye examination for preventing vision loss, regardless of the educational level. The warning of the physicians through written and visual media is thought to be effective in preventing irreversible condition of this disease.