Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of diabetic eye care among non-ophthalmic speciality doctors at a tertiary institute in India

Abstract

Aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) in eye care of diabetics by non-ophthalmic doctors of different specialization. The was a cross-sectional questionnaire based KAP survey among 108 non-ophthalmic diabetes mellitus treating faculties of various departments at our institute. The level of Knowledge was considered excellent if the overall average score was > 75%, similarly questionnaire focusing on attitude was considered positive if the average score was > 50% and excellent practice constituted an average score > 75%. The findings will be noted in percentages with 95% confidence interval limit. Out of the 108 subjects, 75.57% {95%CI(61%-78%)} of participants had excellent knowledge, while >87.6% {95%CI(73%-88%)} of participants had a positive attitude towards diabetic eye care, whereas there were glaring deficits in diabetic eye care practices accounting to only 45.5%{95%CI(32.8%-51.4%)} which was considered poor. Knowledge and attitude regarding diabetic eye care was excellent, there was glaring deficits in the practice of diabetic eye care by non-ophthalmic treating doctors. The deficit was probably due to busy schedule of some doctors, due to lack of uniform eye care protocols of diabetic patients, and lack of updated timely education of eye care practices among non-ophthalmic medical professionals. Hence based on the findings of our study we aim to train and educate our non-ophthalmic medical faculty regularly for adequate and better management of spectrum of diabetic eye disease.