Assessment of Patients’ Knowledge of Diabetic Eye Complications at Selected Health Facilities in the Tema Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes prevalence has been rising more rapidly in the middle- and low-income countries. The leading causes of blindness secondary to diabetes are diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, and glaucoma. A cross‑ sectional survey was carried out to assess the knowledge level of diabetic patients on diabetes and its eye complications in selected health facilities within the Tema Metropolis in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Methods: A total of 422pretested structured questionnaires were systematically administered to interview diabetic patients at Tema General Hospital, Tema Polyclinic and Manhean Health Centre. Data were collected on respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of diabetic status, knowledge of diabetic eye disease and referral rate for eye examinations.Univariate analysis was applied to establish the frequency and percentage distributions of the responses. Chi-square (χ2 ) and Fisher’s exact tests were employed to determine the factors associations. Regression analysis was used to predict the strength of the associations. The threshold for statistical significance was set at a p-value less than 0.05. Results: A few (3.86%) of diabetic patients did not know that they had diabetes. Knowledge of diabetic ocular complications was low, and only 77(18.60%) of the patients knew two or more of the ocular complications of diabetes. Knowledge of diabetic ocular complications was significantly associated with age group (p=0.019), educational level (p<0.001), marital status(p=0.002), occupation (p=0.001), ethnicity (p=0.030), income level (p<0.001) and residence (p=0.008). Majority of the interviewees (63.04%) had a history of an eye examination. Only 57.33% of them were referred for the eye examination by the doctor managing diabetes. Conclusion: Knowledge of diabetic eye complications is low among diabetic patients. Most of the referrals for eye exams are done by their physicians managing diabetes. Policies by the government are required to decrease the incidence of diabetes. Also, healthcare authorities are required to intensify the education on diabetic eye complications and early referral for an eye examination.