Self-Reported Awareness of Retinopathy Severity in Diabetic Patients

Figures & data

Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of Survey Respondents versus Non-Respondents

n	Level	Overall	No Response	Responded	p
		3239	2915	324
Age (mean (SD))		63.03 (13.97)	63.11 (14.04)	62.26 (13.32)	0.296
Gender (%)	Female	1662 (51.3)	1517 (52.0)	145 (44.8)	0.015
	Male	1577 (48.7)	1398 (48.0)	179 (55.2)
Race (%)	No Data	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	<0.001
	American Indian or Alaska Native	17 (0.5)	15 (0.5)	2 (0.6)
	Asian	187 (5.8)	183 (6.3)	4 (1.2)
	Black or African American	953 (29.4)	898 (30.8)	55 (17.0)
	Declined	225 (6.9)	205 (7.0)	20 (6.2)
	Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	5 (0.2)	5 (0.2)	0 (0.0)
	Other	203 (6.3)	187 (6.4)	16 (4.9)
	Unknown	4 (0.1)	4 (0.1)	0 (0.0)
	White	1644 (50.8)	1417 (48.6)	227 (70.1)
Ethnicity (%)	Declined	252 (7.8)	226 (7.8)	26 (8.0)	0.262
	Hispanic or Latino	312 (9.6)	290 (9.9)	22 (6.8)
	Not Hispanic or Latino	2674 (82.6)	2398 (82.3)	276 (85.2)
	Unable to Answer	1 (0.0)	1 (0.0)	0 (0.0)
Type 1 Diabetes (%)		483 (14.9)	413 (14.2)	70 (21.6)	<0.001
Type 2 Diabetes (%)		3150 (97.3)	2837 (97.3)	313 (96.6)	0.471
Presence of diabetic retinopathy (%)		510 (15.7)	455 (15.6)	55 (17.0)	0.575

Notes: Presence of type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and diabetic retinopathy were determined by the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes provided in Appendix A.

Table 2 Perceived versus Actual Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) Severity Amongst Survey Respondents

		Perceived DR Severity
		None	Mild/Moderate	Severe
Actual DR Severity	None	214	36	3
	Mild/moderate	14	25	1
	Severe	2	15	9

Notes: Each cell represents the number of patients with each combination of perceived versus actual DR severity. Underestimators are shaded in dark gray, accurate patients are shaded in light gray, and overestimators are shaded in white.

Abbreviation: DR, diabetic retinopathy.

Figure 1 Bar graphs representing the perceived severity of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with no DR (A), mild/moderate DR (B), and severe DR (C).

Table 3 Self-Reported Characteristics of Overestimators, Underestimators, and Accurate Patients

n		Overall	Accurate	Overestimator	Underestimator	p
		319	248	40	31
Age (mean (SD))		62.26 (13.32)	62.28 (13.05)	66.30 (14.43)	56.84 (12.46)	0.012
Ethnic origin (%)	Asian or Pacific Islander	10 (3.1)	5 (2.0)	4 (10.0)	1 (3.2)	0.099
	Black not Hispanic	59 (18.5)	49 (19.8)	5 (12.5)	5 (16.1)
	Hispanic	24 (7.5)	16 (6.5)	5 (12.5)	3 (9.7)
	Other	3 (0.9)	2 (0.8)	0 (0.0)	1 (3.2)
	Prefer not to answer	2 (0.6)	1 (0.4)	1 (2.5)	0 (0.0)
	White not Hispanic	221 (69.3)	175 (70.6)	25 (62.5)	21 (67.7)
Sex (%)	Female	144 (45.1)	115 (46.4)	14 (35.0)	15 (48.4)	0.389
	Male	175 (54.9)	133 (53.6)	26 (65.0)	16 (51.6)
Highest level of education completed (%)	Elementary/Middle School	2 (0.6)	2 (0.8)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	0.717
	High School or GED equivalent	49 (15.4)	41 (16.5)	3 (7.5)	5 (16.1)
	Bachelor’s degree	119 (37.3)	91 (36.7)	19 (47.5)	9 (29.0)
	Master’s degree or above	145 (45.5)	110 (44.4)	18 (45.0)	17 (54.8)
	Prefer not to answer	4 (1.3)	4 (1.6)	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)
Duration of diabetes (%)	Less than 5 years	53 (16.6)	48 (19.4)	5 (12.5)	0 (0.0)	<0.001
	5–10 years	78 (24.5)	64 (25.8)	13 (32.5)	1 (3.2)
	More than 10 years	182 (57.1)	132 (53.2)	20 (50.0)	30 (96.8)
	Unsure	6 (1.9)	4 (1.6)	2 (5.0)	0 (0.0)
Insulin use (%)		75 (23.5)	46 (18.5)	8 (20.0)	21 (67.7)	<0.001
Are you aware that diabetes can affect your vision? (%)	Yes	315 (98.7)	244 (98.4)	40 (100.0)	31 (100.0)	1.000
Do you know what diabetic retinopathy means? (%)	Yes	235 (73.7)	177 (71.4)	31 (77.5)	27 (87.1)	0.157
Have you ever been told that fluid is affecting your vision? (%)	Yes	39 (12.2)	19 (7.7)	13 (32.5)	7 (22.6)	<0.001
Have you ever been told that you have new or abnormal blood vessels? (%)	Yes	52 (16.3)	31 (12.5)	7 (17.5)	14 (45.2)	<0.001
Have you ever received laser treatment for diabetes? (%)	Yes	40 (12.5)	16 (6.5)	7 (17.5)	17 (54.8)	<0.001
Have you ever received eye injections for diabetes? (%)	Yes	22 (6.9)	11 (4.4)	2 (5.0)	9 (29.0)	<0.001
Is your blood sugar glucose well controlled? (%)	Fluctuates	135 (42.3)	104 (41.9)	15 (37.5)	16 (51.6)	0.161
	No	15 (4.7)	12 (4.8)	0 (0.0)	3 (9.7)
	Yes	169 (53.0)	132 (53.2)	25 (62.5)	12 (38.7)
What was your last A1c measurement? (%)	Do not know	21 (6.6)	17 (6.9)	4 (10.0)	0 (0.0)	0.226
	Greater than 7	124 (38.9)	93 (37.5)	14 (35.0)	17 (54.8)
	Less than 7	174 (54.5)	138 (55.6)	22 (55.0)	14 (45.2)

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Figure 2 Bar graph illustrating the number and percentage of patients reporting each barrier to diabetic retinopathy screening.