PROFILE OF PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AT A UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Keywords:
diabetic retinopathy, blindness, visual acuityAbstract
Diabetic retinopathy has been for decades an ocular disease of crescent significance. It is, nowadays one of the main causes of blindness worldwide. This study provides a profile of the diabetic retinopathy patient, aiming at the prevention and treatment of this disease. A quantitative evaluation of the files of 691 patients seeking ambulatory care for the first time at the University Hospital PUC-Campinas was carried out. A higher incidence of both diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy was found in female patients over forth years old. It was also observed that a minority of the patients had sought ophthalmologic assistance under the advice of other medical specialized services, an indication that insufficient medical orientation is being provided. The majority of those patients had looked for ophthalmologic assistance only when a significant loss in visual capacity had already occurred. Astonishingly 35.3% of diabetic retinopathy patients that looked for assistance were already blind in one or both eyes. This fact may have been caused by difficult in accessing the ophthalmologic services, or because the patients did not take the disease seriously or yet due to the low quality of medical orientation provided to diabetic retinopathy patients. As the success rate in avoiding the progression of the disease, in a long term, is low, there is clearly a the need for the development of more effective techniques in the treatment and especially in the prevention of this disease.
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