Retinopathy Prevention Educational Sessions on Awareness of Adult Diabetic Patients in Al-Ramad Hospital , Port Said

Background: Retinopathy is known as one of the most severe complications of diabetes and a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Aim: explore the effect of retinopathy prevention educational sessions on the knowledge, attitude and practice of adult diabetic patients. Design: a quasi-experimental research design with a pre/post-test approach. Setting: the study was conducted in Al-Ramad Hospital , Port Said. Sampling: purposive sample of 67 diabetic patients who were at the medical outpatient clinics. Tools: three tools were used : tool one was a structured interviewed questionnaire that assessed patients' socio-demographic characteristics, medical, surgical, therapeutic , family history ,and knowledge about diabetic retinopathy. Tool two : evaluate the patient's attitude about retinopathy prevention. Tool three: reported practice about retinopathy prevention. Results: According to this study, 40.3% of the patients had ages between 40 and 50. Patients' pre-test knowledge of diabetic retinopathy was inadequate, but after the instructional sessions, it increased. Following their attendance at the health education courses, diabetic individuals' practices and attitudes greatly improved. Conclusion: There was a highly statistically significant improvement in patient's knowledge, attitude and reported practice toward diabetic retinopathy after implementation of preventive educational sessions compared to prior to attending the sessions. Recommendation: health educational sessions for patients to raise diabetic patients' knowledge regarding retinopathy prevention for a longer period of time in different settings.