Prevalence and Awareness of Diabetic Retinopathy among Known Diabetic Patients Visiting the Sagarmatha Chaudhary Eye Hospital, Lahan

Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy causes irreversible blindness. Most of the patients visiting the hospital have no signs and symptoms until too late for effective treatment. Early diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent blindness due to diabetic retinopathy.Objective: The study aimed to assess the awareness regarding diabetic retinopathy, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients, and its association with demographic characteristics. Methods: The hospital-based analytical cross-sectional study at Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital from Feb 2018 to Dec 2018. Pretested tools were used to collect the data. Bivariate analysis was done using SPSS 20 version. Results: A total of 303 participants was included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 53.9(±10.2) years. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 72%. Among known diabetic patients, were 85(28%) had clinically significant macular edema, 51(16.8%) had Proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 38 (12.5%) had Mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 31(10.2%) had moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 14(4.6%) had severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy and 84 (27.7%) had no DR. The odds of having diabetic retinopathy among knowing diabetic Mellitus was 1.59 times in comparison to no knowledge (95%CI: 0.93,2.7; p value=0.04). The reason for late coming to eye examination was less awareness 57%. Conclusion: The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 3 in 4 among diabetic patients. Awareness regarding diabetic retinopathy was poor. There is a need to develop an awareness program on diabetic retinopathy among known diabetic patients.