A study of eye care service utilization among diabetic patients visiting a tertiary care hospital in Coastal Karnataka, southern India

The purpose of this study was to understand the eye care service utilization of diabetic patients visiting a tertiary care center. This was a cross-sectional study with a study period of 2 months conducted at a tertiary health care teaching hospital in South India. Diabetic patients visiting the hospital during the study period were subjected to a systematic questionnaire-based interview. The details of their ophthalmological evaluation were accessed from their records. A total of 230 diabetic patients were interviewed. Most of them (91%) were above the age group of 40 years, and 84% were literate. Around 73.2% were residing near the center with easy accessibility to health care. Although almost 90% of the patients were regularly visiting their physician for diabetes control, only 67% had undergone an ophthalmological evaluation and only 58% had been screened for retinopathy. Despite the availability of eye care facilities to a literate diabetic population with reasonable knowledge regarding ocular implications of the disease, the utilization of the services was inadequate. An integrated approach to diabetes and teleophthalmology services may help in making the comprehensive evaluation more convenient and thus begetting more compliance from the patient.