Ocular findings in a diabetic retinopathy screening clinic in Southwest Nigeria

Diabetics in the developing nations are unlikely to report for eye check except they have poor vision. This study was aimed to determine the types of eye disorders among diabetics seen at a tertiary eye clinic in Nigeria. Semi structured questionnaire were administered to obtain demographic parameters, duration of DM diagnosis, type of hypoglycemic drug and document eye findings after detailed ocular examination. Data was entered into SPSS version 20 and analysed. A total of 150 patients were seen. Most patients were in the age range 51 – 70 years with a mean of 60.42 ± 11.72 years. Females constituted 65.3% of the study population. Majority (97.3%) had type 2 DM. Majority (>90%) never had dilated fundus examination. The commonest eye disorder was diabetic retinopathy (32.6%) accounting for 7.2% of blindness. Cataract, refractive error and glaucoma were also sizeable disorders among the patients. Only 4.6% had no detectable eye disorder at the time of eye examination. Majority of the patients never had dilated eye examination and had some form of eye disorder at presentation. Diabetic retinopathy was the leading cause of visual impairment. There is still a great need to advocate regular dilated eye examination among the diabetic population in our environment.