Knowledge of diabetes-related eye disease low among Hispanics

Hispanic people with diabetes have a lesser frequency of eye exams than the national average for Hispanic people.

Researchers from the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University and the Hispanic Apostolate in Baltimore conducted interviews among 349 self-reported Hispanic people and 204 Hispanic people with diabetes to assess their knowledge of diabetic eye disease and pinpoint barriers to care.

The participants were divided into four groups: those without diabetes, those with and without a family history of diabetes, those who were newly diagnosed with diabetes and those who were diagnosed with diabetes more than one year prior to the study.

Results showed that 30% of participants with diabetes had an eye examination within the last year. The risk of eye disease as a result of diabetes was acknowledged by 18% of participants without diabetes and no family history, 29% of participants without diabetes with a family history, 36% of newly diagnosed participants and 52% of those diagnosed more than a year before the study.

Barriers of care included having providers who do not speak Spanish (reported by 50%), and less than 10% of participants preferred reading in English, according to the study. To reduce barriers of eye care, the researchers proposed for the development and institution of culturally appropriate improvements and health education. – by Stacey L. Adams

Arch Ophthalmol. 2008; 126:968-974.