International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | September 2018 | Vol 6 | Issue 9 Page 3152 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Hansdak A et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2018 Sep;6(9):3152-3155 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Screening for retinopathy, risk factors, adherence to treatment and complications among diabetic and hypertensive individuals attending a primary care centre in Puducherry, India Amod Hansdak 1 , Saravanan V. 2 *, Manikandan 2 , Navin 2 , Joy Bazroy 2 , Velavan 2 , Anil J. Purty 2 INTRODUCTION Globally, there is an increasing prevalence of non- communicable diseases (NCD) especially diabetes and hypertension with the risk of vision-threatening retinopathies. An estimated 26% of the world’s population (972 million people) has hypertension, and the prevalence is expected to increase to 29% by 2025, driven largely by increases in economically developing nations. 1 The prevalence of diabetes is predicted to double globally from 171 million in 2000 to 366 million in 2030 with a maximum increase in India. It is predicted that by 2030 diabetes mellitus may afflict up to 79.4 million individuals in India. 2 There is an increasing prevalence and incidence of diabetes with increasing age and adult age group are at high risk of developing diabetic retinopathies. 3 Alcohol, smoking, level of physical activity along with family history, duration and adherence to treatment of NCD are potential risk factors for development of retinopathies. This paper reports on risk factors, adherence to treatment and complications among known diabetic and hypertensive individuals attending a primary care centre in a rural area of Puducherry. 1 Department of Ophthalmology, 2 Department of Community Medicine, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Science, Puducherry, India Received: 12 July 2018 Accepted: 07 August 2018 *Correspondence: Dr. Saravanan V., E-mail: saravana070@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: The increasing prevalence and incidence of diabetes and hypertension with increasing age and adult age group are at high risk of developing diabetic and hypertensive retinopathies. Methods: The study was conducted in a rural area of Puducherry, data collection was carried over a period of six months. Self-reported patients of diabetes and hypertension were included in the study and predesigned questionnaire was used to collect the information about socio-demographic details, risk factors, physical activity, history related to DM/HTN and history of fundus examination. Results: Majority of patients screened for diabetes 56% and hypertension 47% was by government hospital. The proportion of diabetics and hypertensives who had undergone fundus examination to rule out diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy was found to be 29.3% (12) and 14.5% (10). Complications such as neuropathy and retinopathy were given by 36.5% (15) and 2.4% (1) of diabetic patients Two third of the patients 64.1% had sedentary life style. Conclusions: Health care providers need to plan for larger coverage of fundus examination among diabetic and hypertensive patients. Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, Sedentary lifestyle, Screening DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20183661