Physicians, pharmacists, and people with diabetes in India.
OBJECTIVE
The present study was undertaken to elucidate the most frequently visited health care provider by the population attending a tertiary eye care hospital in South India.


METHODS
A trained observer administered the questionnaire to 150 literate subjects aged above 30 years. Data collection included factors such as age, gender, single-index socioeconomic status (monthly income), presence of diabetes, and the name of the health care provider, including the number of times he or she was visited in the last 1 and 6 months.


RESULTS
A total of 122 individuals (including persons with or without diabetes) responded to the questionnaire. Pharmacists were the most frequently visited health care providers; a pharmacist was visited nearly every month by a person with diabetes and about once in 2 months by a person without diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed that the most frequently visited health care providers by the population with diabetes were pharmacists.
Padmaja Kumari
R
R
Ophthalmologist, Sankara Nethralaya Diabetic Retinopathy Project, Vision Research Foundation, 18 College Road, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Raman
Rajiv
R
Sharma
Tarun
T
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires