REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1536822
This article is part of the Research TopicReviews in: Ophthalmology 2024View all 10 articles
A narrative review of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals toward diabetic retinopathy
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Public Health Medicine, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa
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Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of preventable vision loss worldwide.Early screening and diagnosis are critical in mitigating vision loss in patients with diabetes. This review aims to analyze existing research on healthcare professionals' (HCPs) knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding DR screening.Methods: A literature search was performed using four electronic databases: Medline, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and EBSCOhost. The search terms included synonyms connected by the Boolean operator "OR." This search covered quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research studies. The appraisal was done using the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical tool. A total of 59 published articles were analyzed.Results: Forty-seven articles (79.7%) assessed knowledge of HCPs, 30 (50.8%) assessed attitudes, and 42 (71.2%) assessed practices related to DR screening and referrals. The studies reveal significant differences in knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding DR among various HCPs.There was variation in levels of knowledge amongst various categories of HCPs, with nine studies reporting 100% knowledge of DR. Positive attitudes ranged from 13% to 100%. Similar variations were reported regarding practices, with many HCPs not screening patients for DR. Inadequate training, lack of screening resources like an ophthalmoscope, dilating eye drops, and being inundated with other responsibilities were common reasons for the gaps in knowledge and practices.Conclusions: Non-ophthalmic HCPs' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding DR screening were unsatisfactory. The HCPs with an ophthalmic background had varying levels of KAP regarding DR, with some having good knowledge and others having deficiencies in applying screening guidelines and providing patient education. Regular in-service training is needed, particularly for non-ophthalmic HCPs, and resources should be available for screening at the primary care level.
Keywords: knowledge, attitudes, Practice, Diabetic, retinopathy, complications, Healthcare Professionals Kknowledge, Aattitudes
Received: 27 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Maluleke and Mahomed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Khisimusi Debree Maluleke, Department of Public Health Medicine, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa
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