Baseline data on knowledge/awareness about diabetes and DR
diabetes
DISEASE, DIABETES
Baseline data showed that participants had poor knowledge and awareness about diabetes and DR. Out of all 110 participants, 45.5% did not believe that diabetes is a serious disease, and 39.2% and 31.8% did not know that good cholesterol and blood pressure levels were important in controlling diabetes, respectively. Of the total, 76.4% of participants did not know the correct fasting blood glucose (≥126 mg/dL) or HbA1c level (>6.5%) for diagnosing diabetes. Of the total, 37.3% did not know that stress can cause diabetes, 12.7% thought that sitting down will help to control diabetes, and 61.8% did not know that there was a difference between having eyes tested for glasses and diabetes. Out of the total, 32% of participants did not know that diabetes can affect the eyes, and none (0%) knew that photograph of the back of the eye is taken to test if diabetes has affected the eyes.