AWARENESS OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AMONG ADULT POPULATION IN PEERPANCHAL REGION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA

Purpose:To study the awareness of diabetes and its multisystem involvement like diabetic retinopathy among population attending medicine opd in government medical college and associated hospital,Rajouri Jammu and Kashmir India Methods:A cross-sectional study over a 2-year period was conducted among 6000 adults who underwent OPD medical treatment at government medical college and associated hospital in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India. All patients were randomly tested for blood sugar and a questionnaire designed for them. Data obtained were statistically analyzed using SPSS version software 15.0. (P <0.05) was considered a significant value. Results:In our study, we enrolled 6000 participants between the ages of 56.4 +/- 10 years and male: female ratio of 3: 5. Based on the questionnaire, we found that 71.05% of the registered participants were unaware of the complications of diabetes.85.03% were unaware that diabetes can affect the eyes. Although more than 92.18% did not know much about diabetic retinopathy or its treatment options. 93.3% of adults in general said they would have an eye test when their vision was severely reduced. Awareness about diabetes retinopathy was significantly reduced in women. (p <0.05) Conclusions: As per our study , more than half of the individuals lacked any knowledge about multi-system involvement in diabetes. They were particularly unaware about the importance of eye screening in diabetes.