ABSTRACT
Background: Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, broadly it is defined as a complication of diabetes that affects the retina; by damaging its blood vessels, which at first may be symptomless, though eventually can lead to serious and sight-threatening complications like hemorrhages, macular edema, and even blindness
Aim: The study aimed at detecting the presence of diabetic retinopathy in the diabetic patients having a best corrected visual acuity "BCVA" of 6/9 or better, attending Retina Clinic in Elsaiem Eye Hospital, to prove a hypothesis' that states: diabetic patients with a BCVA of 6/9 or better are unlikely to have a diabetic retinal complications, and if found they rarely need intervention
Results: Six hundred and eighteen eyes were included in the study; 59.2% of the eyes with BCVA 6/9, 75.6% of the eyes with BCVA of 6/6, and 86.2% of the eyes with BCVA 6/5 were found to have neither diabetic retinopathy nor maculopathy
Conclusion: As it can be stated out of the results; the better the visual acuity than 6/9 the lesser the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy, so visual acuity "among other factors" could be considered as one of the simple screening methods or predictors of the diabetic retinopathy that is of great importance in developing countries with minimal facilities and resource-poor settings