Abstract Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM) that damages the retina resulting in blindness. The purpose from this study is to assess the quality of life for diabetic retinopathy patients especially the vision and general health fields according to data collected from Palestinian Diabetic Institute. This is a cross sectional analysis study included 400 patients from both types of DM, while Visual Functioning Questionnaire – 25 (VFQ-25) were administered and the data was analyzed by SPSS version 21. DR patients showed poorer general health (p= 0.000) and QOL (p=0.001) compared with non-DR patients. They had also a lower average of A1C (p= 0.001), visual acuity (p=0.009), social functioning (p= 0.003), color vision (p=0.002), age (p= 0.00) ranging from 19 to 88 years. Also the results showed differences based on the government (p= 0.003, Nablus > Hebron) but not with gender (p=0.58) or the diabetes mellitus type (p= 0.613). In the end diabetic retinopathy progression had a significant association with quality of life among the diabetic patients, as QOL become poorer with the longer duration of diabetes mellitus, so all of primary eye health care provider must give a lot of information about diabetic complications on eye like awareness bulletins on social media or to make a specific time to tell DM patients about the importance of routine retinal exam check, also to control blood sugar level A1C as it is one of the strongest risk factors of DR progression in our community. These recommendations and advices should also include patient’s families, so this could help to give the most accurate care for these patients especially the elderly as they suffer from VA fluctuating due to DM and other systemic diseases

Conference Title

المؤتمر الفلسطيني الاردني السادس

Conference Country

Jordan

Conference Date

May 12, 2022 - May 13, 2022

Conference Sponsor

conference Team