Abstract
To explore the diabetic retinopathy screening (DRS) model in rural south China, the author from a tertiary eye institute, in cooperation with a local county-level hospital, established DRS at township health units in Qujiang District, where 3,646 people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (PwDM) were registered at the primary health system and participated in the DRS in 2019. The cross-sectional study report in this thesis used trained data collection staff working together with the local trained screening team and included topics as follows: 1) Contextual factors that affect DRS uptake at township health units in southern China: A qualitative study with service providers and users. The author conducted this study on the reasons people were not coming to the screening established at the primary level from both user and supplier parts at the pilot project phase for onward program improvement. 2) Differences in prevalence and risk factors of DR among rural and urban residents in southern China. There have been many studies on the prevalence of DR conducted in China, and this is the first one to compare the difference in prevalence of DR among rural and urban residents. It is also the direct result of the screening program, which targets disadvantaged people. 3) Health behaviours and diabetic control among PwDM in rural and urban China: A community-based cross-sectional study. 4) Outreach screening to improve service equity in rural China We compared three groups of participants to DR services to learn how outreach screening helped more disadvantaged people in rural areas. 5) Willingness to pay for diabetic retinopathy screening in Qujiang District, Rural Southern China. 6) Rate of hospital visits and the affecting factors for people being referred from a primary level set large scale of DRS. These studies give insight into the establishment of DRS in rural South China.Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2025.
| Date of Award | Dec 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Nathan Congdon (Supervisor) & Ving Fai Chan (Supervisor) |