Diabetic Retinopathy: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Physicians in Northwestern Nigeria

Vitreo-Retina

Abstract

Background: Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the productive adult working population and a  common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus[1] . It poses a considerable global public health burden, because of the growing number of people with diabetes in developing countries, despite its low prevalence at present[2,3]. Visual loss and blindness  from diabetes that often occurs during the productive years of life is usually associated with loss of independence and lack of mobility,  which may limit their earning potentials or even preclude them from gainful employment[4,5]. The aim of our study is to evaluate the  level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of diabetic retinopathy screening among Physicians in Northwest Nigeria.

Methods: Survey responses relating to knowledge, attitude, and practices on Diabetic Retinopathy were appropriately obtained from 105 physicians in  four tertiary hospitals using a Likertgrade questionnaire. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was calculated using Cronbach  Alpha coefficient. Principal components analysis was used for data reduction and grouping with the varimax rotation  method, and the factors were extracted based on an Eigenvalue >1. The extracted data were analysed using the PASW ® Statistics  version 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).