Abstract
Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM), a multi-systemic disease marked by hyperglycaemia, is becoming more common around the world. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-known cause of many ophthalmic problems, including diabetic retinopathy (DR), macular oedema, cataract, refractive change. and micro-vascular paralytic strabismus. A significant public health effort has been made to create ocular screening regimens for diabetic patients, beginning at a young age.
Aim: to assess the knowledge of diabetic children regarding the risk of ocular complications and prevalence of ocular complications among diabetic children.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was used targeting all accessible diabetic children aged less than 18 years or their care givers in Aseer region. Data were collected from participants using an online pre-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire covered the following data: participants' socio-demographic data, diabetes related clinical data. The third part covered participants' knowledge using multiple responses and mutually exclusive questions. The questionnaire was uploaded online using social media platforms by the researchers during the period from 17 November 2021 to 2 June 2022. All accessible and eligible population in the study setting were invited to fill in the attached tool.
Results: A total of 499 children fulfilling the inclusion criteria completed the study questionnaire. Exactly 275 (55.1%) were males and 224 (44.9%) were females. None of the sampled children had other co-morbidities. Exactly 188 (37.7%) children had been diagnosed with DM for 6-10 years, 179 (35.9%) diagnosed for 11-15 years while 43 (8.65%) were diagnosed for less than 5 years. About 88% of the study participants agreed that diabetes may cause eye-related complications, and 87.6% agreed that early detection of eye diseases associated with diabetes may reduce their complications. A total of 85.2% think that the annual visit to the ophthalmologist for diabetics is important. Good control of HbA1c as the best method to prevent diabetic eye complications was known by 67.3% of the study participants.
Conclusions: In conclusion, the study revealed that diabetic eye complications among children were not frequent with poor diabetic control. Participants' knowledge regarding diabetes eye related complications was on average especially for the significance of ophthalmologist visits and early detection of the disorders.