The Effect of Health Education on Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Compliance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Publisher



Dadkhah PA ; Norouzkhani N ; Asadigandomani H ; Aslani Khiavi M ; Khanlari M ; Sedghi F ; Rafiei SKS ; Ghasemi F ; Saffarian Zade N ; Aghadavood F ; Geshani Z ; Sohrabivafa F ; Khademi R ; Shafagh SG Show All Authors
Source: SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine Published:2025

Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common microvascular complication that can lead to visual impairment and blindness if it is not recognized and treated early. Lack of awareness of DR is the most commonly cited reason why many people with type 2 diabetes do not seek a referral for retinal screening. The current systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effect of health education on DR screening compliance. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases searched up to June 2025 to retrieve relevant articles based on titles, abstracts, and full-text screening. The quality of the included studies was assessed. Hence, data were extracted and analyzed. This study included a review of nine studies conducted in India, United States, China, Switzerland, Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh, and Canada with a total population of 2409 people. This current meta-analysis showed that health education increases DR screening compliance (odds ratio: 3.40, confidence interval 95% = 2.08–5.58). Also, the group whose reminder happened through a phone call compared to those who received other forms of reminders had higher compliance (odds ratio: 5.79, confidence interval 95% = 0.42–80.25). Data was associated with high heterogeneity (I2 = 72% for the first analysis and 75% for the second). The current study found a significant association between health education and DR screening compliance. Since the heterogeneity between the included studies was high, further large skilled studies are required. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.