Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy among Patients with Diabetes in Riyadh City.

Abstract Objective To identify the knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy among Saudi patients with diabetes in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.Methods A cross sectional study that was conducted in 50 randomly selected primary care centers and two university hospitals, involving diabetic patients that are 18 years and older during May 2018 and December 2018 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using a validated KAP-45 questionnaire to assess the KAP levels of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.Results A total of 313 participants were enrolled in the study. Most of them 168(59.8%) were males and 38(12.3%) were illiterate and 141(45.4%) had at least a bachelor's degree. Most of them had a family history of DM and long standing history of DM The average knowledge score for diabetes was good and was suboptimal for diabetic retinopathy. While the attitude scores for both diabetes and diabetic retinopathy were suboptimal. Meanwhile the average practice score for diabetes was good and was low for diabetic retinopathy.Conclusions Findings observed in our study stress on the importance of improving education and awareness as it’s the key for controlling the disease and reducing its complications.