Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar;16(1):210-7.
doi: 10.4314/ahs.v16i1.28.

Awareness and practices on eye effects among people with diabetes in rural Tamil Nadu, India

N Balasubramaniyan  1 , S Ganesh Kumar  2 , K Ramesh Babu  3 , L Subitha  2
Affiliations

Awareness and practices on eye effects among people with diabetes in rural Tamil Nadu, India

N Balasubramaniyan et al. Afr Health Sci. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Background: Recently eye effects of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) are an important concern due to increase in its trend especially in developing countries.

Objectives: To assess the awareness related to eye effects of DM and its prevention practices among people with diabetes.

Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2013 to April 2013 in Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, India. All 105 people with diabetes from the service area of two sub-centres were included. Data on socio demographic details, history of DM, awareness on systemic complications of DM, effects of DM on eyes, practice on regular blood check-up, eye examination and source of information were collected by interview technique using a structured questionnaire. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analysis were done to assess the association of awareness of eye examination with socio-demographic variables.

Results: Mean age of the study population was 56.7 years. About 93 people with diabetes (88.6%) tested their blood sugar at least once in every 3 months. About 80 people with diabetes (76.2%) were aware of at least one systemic complication of DM. Although 78 (74.3%) people with diabetes were aware that DM could affect the eyes, majority of this group (68, 87.2%) did not know the specific effects of DM on eyes. In this group, about 28(35.9%) people with diabetes were not aware of the reasons for eye effects, while others mentioned that persistent high blood sugar level (n=26, 33.3%), longer duration of DM (n=14, 17.9%) and lifestyle (n=10, 12.8%) were the reasons for the eye effects of DM. Only 31 (29.5%) of them knew that their eyes must be regularly examined. People with diabetes who had post-secondary and above (>10th standard) level of education had significantly higher awareness on examination of eye (Adjusted OR=19.63).

Conclusion: Although awareness of people with diabetes on systemic effects of DM was more, their awareness on specific eye effects and need for regular screening was low. Systematic efforts are required to increase awareness on eye effects and importance of regular screening in this population.

Keywords: Awareness; India; diabetes; eye effects; practice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Awareness of systemic complications of DM among the people with diabetes in the study population (n=105)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency of blood test done among patients with diabetes (n=105)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Source of information on hospital visit among those who developed vision problems and visited eye hospital (N=48)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Awareness regarding eye effects due to DM among the study population (n=105)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Narendran V, John RK, Raghuram A, Ravindran RD, Nirmalan PK, Thulasiraj RD. Diabetic retinopathy among self reported diabetics in southernIndia: a population based assessment. Br J Ophthalmol. 2002;86:1014–1018. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yam J, Kwok A. Update on the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. Hong Kong Med J. 2007;13:46–60. - PubMed
    1. Namperumalsamy P, Kim R, Kaliaperumal K, Sekar A, Karthika A, Nirmalan PK. A pilot study on awareness ofdiabetic retinopathy among non-medical persons in South India. The challenge for eye care programmes in the region. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2004;52:247–251. - PubMed
    1. Khandekar Rajiv, Al Harby Saleh, Al Harthy Harith, Al Lawatti Jawad. Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding eye complications and care among Omani persons with diabetes - A cross sectional study. Oman J Ophthalmol. 2010;3:60–65. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rani P, Raman R, Agarwal S, Paul PG, Uthra S, Margabandhu G, et al. Diabetic retinopathy screening model for rural population: awarenessand screening methodology. Rural and Remote Health. 2005;5:350–355. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources