Nov. 30, 2016
Seventy-nine percent of Americans don’t know diabetic eye diseases have no visible symptoms, and more than half do not know comprehensive eye exams can detect diabetes, according to the 2016 American Eye-Q Survey conducted by the American Optometric Association (AOA).
“In 2014 alone, eye doctors found diabetes-related manifestations in 240,000 patients who were not aware they had diabetes, leading to a prompt diagnosis and care which minimizes the risk of complications,” says AOA President Andrea P. Thau, OD. “A comprehensive eye examination with a doctor of optometry is important not just to maintain eye and vision health, but so they can be a first line of diagnosis for many systemic diseases.”
The survey, designed to drive education of eye health issues, also found that people diagnosed with diabetes are acutely aware of its effect on eye health and are more likely than the average American to worry about their eye health. In fact, loss of vision is a major fear among member of this group, who report that they are three times more concerned about blindness as a diabetes-related side effect than they are about the next largest side effect—kidney failure.
