Abstract
Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) as a complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) and other diabetic complications are of great worldwide concern. In order to control both DM and DR, patients must be informed and comply with prevention and treatment recommendations.
Objectives: The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and patient compliance behavior regarding DR among diabetic patients from Jazan Region of Saudi Arabia and identify factors related to patient awareness and compliance.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 385 diabetic patients from six primary healthcare centers in Jazan region. A self-administered questionnaire was used to solicit responses regarding knowledge, attitudes, and compliance with regular ophthalmic eye examinations. The questionnaire also comprised questions related to the sociodemographic data and other questions related to the diabetic status. The collected responses were presented as frequencies and percentages, and the associations between the variables were accomplished using Chi-squared test. P-value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: About half of the participants (50.6%) were females, and 51.4% were within the age group 45-64 years. Less than half of the participants (40.8%) had low monthly income, and 45.5% were illiterate or had primary education. About 33.6% of the participants had the disease for more than 10 years, and 90.1% were controlled. There was a high awareness level of diabetes-related eye complications (96.4%) and the need for regular eye exams (93.5%). About 54.0% had never seen an ophthalmologist. Participants in the low to medium economic levels and those with primary education had a significant positive attitude. No significant associations were found between the diabetic variables and most of the knowledge and attitude questions (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: There is a need to increase patient awareness about the complications of diabetes and the need for policy guidance for primary healthcare providers to follow best practices when treating diabetic patients to guard against and/or control its complications.