Abstract:
Background: Besides the continuous increase in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus, visual impairment has become a prevailing public health problem in diabetic patients, especially in developing countries. Evidences are limited on the prevalence and associated factors of visual impairment among diabetic patients in Ethiopia. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of visual impairment among diabetic patients at Debre Berhan referral hospital. Methods and materials: A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out from April 27to May19, 2017.All adults with diabetes mellitus at Debre Berhan referral hospital were included in the study. Pre tested and semi structured questionnaire and ocular examinations were used to collect data. Data were entered into Epi Info 7 and exported to Statistical package for social sciences version 20 for analysis. The descriptive analysis was summarized by frequency, percent and summary statistics. Variables with p-value < 0.2 in bivariable binary logistic regression, were fitted to multivariable logistic regression. P-values of less than 0.05 were set to declare statistical significance. Adjusted odds ratio and 95% CI were used to determine the strength of association. Hosmer and Leme show goodness of fit was used to check for model fitness. Result: A total of 388 study subjects participated in the study. The response rate was92%.The median age of study participants was 45 years[IQR 30-56].The prevalence of visual impairment was 29.38% (95% CI: 24.83%-33.93%). Age >56 years (AOR=9.7, 95% CI: 3.1-30.1), 46-56 years (AOR=3.2, 95% CI: 1.1-8.7),physical inactivity (AOR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.2 -3.7), history of eye examination (AOR=1.9, 95% CI: 1.05-3.4), lower body mass index (AOR=6.2, 95% CI: 2.1-18.9) and presence of visual symptoms (AOR=4.1, 95% CI: 2.2-7.6) had statistically significant association with visual impairment. Conclusion and recommendation: About one third of diabetic patients had visual impairment. Diabetic patients are recommended to normalize their body mass index and have regular physical exercises.