Conocimiento de los pacientes con retinopatía diabética sobre su enfermedad. “Revelando la realidad”

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), one of the leading causes of blindness, accounts for approximately 5% of vision loss cases worldwide, with a prevalence of 14.8% among diabetic patients in Ecuador. Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge about DR in diabetic patients attending the Retina Service at the Clínica Internacional de la Visión del Ecuador (CIVE) between November 2023 and May 2024. Methods: A survey was conducted with 100 patients using a validated digital questionnaire to measure their understanding of the disease. Results: Revealed that 57% of participants were unaware of DR, and only 12% demonstrated a high level of knowledge. Additionally, 63% of patients received information about DR from a physician or ophthalmologist at the referring hospital, while only 14% obtained information from the media. Conclusions: These findings underscore the urgent need to implement educational initiatives to increase patient awareness about DR and its visual complications, aiming to prevent disease progression through early detection and timely treatment.