Awareness of various aspects of diabetes among people visiting tertiary eye care institute in north India

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the awareness of the people visiting eye care institute with various aspects of diabetes. Method: Cross sectional survey was carried out during January to March 2018. Survey instrument was developed with the help of experienced faculty, and literature review. Random sampling was done to identify individual. Participants were considered aware if they were aware of the fact that diabetes could be identified by blood or urine tests. Participants were considered diabetics if they reported being on medication for diabetes. Data was collected by means of personal interview with the participants. Result: 530 participants were interviewed. A total of 482 (90.9%) participants were aware of diabetes. Of them, 156 (32.4%) respondents were diabetics, and 326 (67.6%) were non diabetics. Overweight 156 (32.4%), and family history 119 (24.7%) were the most common risk factor identified by participants. Among complications, the kidney was cited by 218 (45.2%), and eyes was cited by 228 (47.3%). Only 40 (25.6%) diabetic, and 45 (13.8%) non diabetic participants were aware about diabetic retinopathy. 201 (41.7%) participants knows that taking healthy food can prevent diabetes. Knowledge about diabetes (34.4%) and time (29.3%) were identified as major barrier to diabetes screening. Conclusion: This study shows that the majority of people visiting a tertiary eye care institute were aware of diabetes. However their knowledge about its risk factors, complications, prevention, and management was poor. Integrated approach among various healthcare providers is required in creating awareness about all aspects of diabetes.