Original articleUse of Eye Care Services among Diabetic Patients in Urban and Rural China
Section snippets
Patients and Methods
The Endocrinology Clinic at an urban tertiary hospital (the Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University) and the General Internal Medicine Clinic in an urban community hospital (the First Municipal People's Hospital of Yuexiu District) in separate areas of Guangzhou were selected to represent the range of care available in urban China. A rural hospital was chosen in northern Guangdong, an economically underdeveloped region.
The Second Affiliated Hospital is designated a Level 3A
Results
Among 889 patients approached to participate in the study, 824 (92.7%) agreed to take part. The mean age of participants was 62.6±12.9 years, and 58.8% were female. Type II diabetes had been diagnosed in 94% of participants, and type I diabetes had been diagnosed in the remainder. The average duration of known diabetes history was 77.9±89.6 months. Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were present in 49.7% and 35.9% of subjects, respectively. No gender (P = 0.76) or age (P = 0.35) differences
Discussion
Only one third of urban and rural diabetic patients in this study underwent an eye examination in the previous year, and nearly half had never had an eye examination. This is generally lower than has been reported in studies in developed countries.31, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Studies from certain racial and ethnic minority groups in the developed world have reported low rates of adherence to recommended diabetic vision screening guidelines, similar to our findings.32, 40, 41 Examination rates among
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Manuscript no. 2009-823.
Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.