Abstract:

Background; Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or glucose), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common micro vascular complication of diabetes, and it remains a leading cause of legal blindness and visual impairment in the working-age population in the developed world.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on diabetic retinopathy among adult diabetic patients at Karagwe district hospital.

Methods; A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at Diabetic clinic, outpatient and inpatient services at Nyakahanga designated district hospital. 142 adult Diabetic patients were involved. The obtained results were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 20 program and the obtained qualitative data was summarized categorically.

Results; Knowledge; According to this study, 50.72% of the patients have knowledge on diabetic effects on eyes.

Attitude; In this study 98 respondents (68.53%) strongly agreed that every diabetic patient should have their eyes checked within a year also 137(95.80%), strongly agreed that timely treatment of diabetes can prevent blinding complications of diabetic retinopathy.

Practices; Most of the patients (41.95%) that were included in this study mentioned that lack of knowledge on eye disease is the major risk factor that hinders the diabetic patients from seeking eye care.

Conclusion: According to this study, 50.72% of diabetic patients at Nyakahanga designated district hospital have knowledge on diabetic effects on eyes. However, 26.09% of the patients didn’t know the effects of diabetes on eyes. Majority of the patients are females and are above 50 years of age.