The research team
Shahina Pardhan
Director of Vision and Eye Research Institute
Prof Shahina Pardhan, Dr Raju Sapkota, Dr Georgina Nakafero, Prof Dingchang Zheng
ARU research on the prevalence of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STR) has helped reduce the risk of blindness in people from Asian backgrounds in the UK, Nepal, India, Thailand and China.
The findings of Prof Pardhan and her team from the Vision and Eye Research Institute (VERI) led them to work with a range of stakeholders to improve health literacy and retinal screening uptake and promote healthier lifestyles. This has directly benefitted more than 110,000 individuals with diabetes.
Director of Vision and Eye Research Institute
Diabetes affects 463 million people globally. Diabetic retinopathy, a serious complication of diabetes, is a leading cause of blindness, especially among people of Asian origin.
The risk of diabetic retinopathy increases significantly when diabetes is poorly controlled and/or when it is not detected early. Timely detection and treatment of diabetic retinopathy reduces the risk of blindness by 60–90%.
Prof Pardhan’s research in the UK found that South Asian diabetic patients have a higher incidence of STR, and develop it at a much younger age or shorter duration of diabetes than Caucasian patients.
This is because people of South Asian origin are less aware of diabetic complications, and the importance of good diabetic control and regular retinal screening. Difficulties accessing healthcare, poor self-help skills, and language barriers all contribute to this lack of health literacy.
Furthermore, most participants in the UK study were unaware of national diabetes education programmes. This suggests that such programmes are not culturally appropriate for different ethnicities, and therefore less effective.
In Nepal, Prof Pardhan and collaborators found that low health literacy and poor treatment compliance put diabetic patients at a higher risk of uncontrolled diabetes, and therefore an increased risk of blindness. These participants also tended to underestimate their blood sugar levels, and therefore overestimated how well-controlled their diabetes was.
Prof Pardhan's research in India found that while diabetic patients were generally aware of the need for regular exercise, only 55% undertook it. Most patients did not know what physical activity to undertake and for how long, and women were less likely than men to exercise regularly.
In China, Prof Pardhan found that diabetic patients also had a low level of awareness that poorly controlled diabetes and poor lifestyles could lead to blindness, and of the importance of regular retinal screening.
The majority of patients at an eye clinic only attended for the first time when retinopathy was well-advanced, making treatment difficult. These patients were also likely to underestimate their blood sugar levels and not exercise regularly.
We have mapped our REF 2021 impact case studies against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 17 SDGs, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, are an urgent call for action. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
This case study is mapped to SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, target 3.4.
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