Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Aug 25, 2021
Date Accepted: Nov 10, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Dec 20, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Title: Augmenting the referral pathway for retinal services among Diabetic patients at Reiyukai Eiko Masunaga Eye Hospital, Nepal: A non-randomized, pre-post intervention study protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is an important public health issue in Nepal with a huge social and economic impact. Despite the availability of retinal services, people may not access them because of the lack of knowledge about DR and poor referral systems. Published studies on referral pathways in Nepal are scarce. Improving DR awareness among general physicians has the potential to address these challenges.
Objective:
Objectives: To see the effect of the health education intervention in health personnel and establish a referral pathway, on the attendance of diabetic patients for retinal screening at Reiyukai Eiko Masunaga Eye Hospital (REMEH), Nepal.
Methods:
This is a non-randomized, pre-post intervention study design. Health education will be provided on diabetic retinopathy to selected health personnel of the intervention (Scheer Memorial) Hospital using Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials in the form of PowerPoint presentations, posters, pamphlets, videos, pre, and post-evaluation questionnaire along with referral slip. Pre and post evaluation will be undertaken during the study period. Data will be analyzed using Excel and Epi Info 7.
Results:
The study is expected to complete in 18 months from the start of the project.
Conclusions:
Health education intervention could be a low-cost solution to improve the awareness, access, utilization of retinal health care services; this is an understudied topic in Nepal. Working closely with the stakeholders, this study will evaluate the role of health education interventions (which are already validated in other low-income settings) to strengthen referral and reduce the burden of DR in Nepal.
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