Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the efficacy of diabetic patient education in an ophthalmology setting.
Methods: :
Approval for this study was obtained from the California Pacific Medical Center IRB. Thirty diabetic patients were identified in an outpatient, multi-specialty private practice ophthalmology office and informed consent was obtained. Patients answered a questionnaire immediately before, immediately after, and 1 month after a five-minute educational session on important issues of diabetes management including management of hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure, diet and exercise.
Results: :
Following the educational session, questionnaire responses on average improved 13%. Although 1/3 of patients were unfamiliar with HbA1c target levels before the educational session, all understood their goal level afterwards. One-month follow-up results showed retained improvement in patient understanding of diabetes management.
Conclusions: :
Ophthalmologists and their staff can effectively educate diabetic patients during routine annual diabetic ophthalmology visits about the importance and goal of hemoglobin A1C levels. Examples of this tested one-page educational tool will be provided.
Keywords: diabetes • diabetic retinopathy • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower