Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a significant public health issue. It carries a variety of serious complications, the most prevalent of which is diabetic retinopathy.
Methods: This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted at primary healthcare centers (PHCs). Responses were obtained using a structured, multi-point questionnaire with closed-ended questions. Informed consent and ethical approval were obtained. The data were analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).
Results: Study participants comprised 103 family physicians, of whom 59.2% were male and 40.8% were female. Among them, 42.7% were practicing in rural areas. Data indicated that most participants (89.3%) had good overall knowledge regarding DM, but only 57.3% demonstrated good practice in terms of fundus examination.
Conclusion: This study indicated limitations in terms of family physicians’ pattern of fundoscopy examination in their patients with DM. Establishing an optometry clinic within each PHC might be a reasonable solution to this problem.
Key words: Diabetic Retinopathy, Family physicians, Fundoscopic examination, Diabetes Mellitus patients, practice patterns.
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