Table 2.
Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of the 200 Participants in Phase 3
| Characteristics | n (%a) |
|---|---|
| Male | 118 (59.0) |
| Diabetes type | |
| Type 1 | 13 (6.5) |
| Type 2 | 97 (48.5) |
| Unknown | 90 (45.0) |
| At least one other diabetes complication (yes) | 79 (39.5) |
| At least one other comorbidity (yes) | 169 (84.5) |
| Attended diabetes education | |
| Never | 95 (47.5) |
| Yes, in the past few years | 42 (21.0) |
| Yes, at diagnosis of diabetes or soon after | 62 (31.0) |
| Diabetes treatment | |
| Tablets | 114 (57.0) |
| Insulin | 79 (39.5) |
| Ethnicity | |
| Chinese | 137 (68.5) |
| Indian | 37 (18.5) |
| Malay | 26 (13.0) |
| Marital status | |
| Single/never married | 28 (14.0) |
| Married/de facto | 150 (75.0) |
| Divorced/separated/widowed | 22 (11.0) |
| Education level | |
| None or primary | 38 (19.0) |
| Secondary | 107 (53.5) |
| A level, diploma, vocational training, university degree | 55 (27.5) |
| Occupation | |
| Managerial, administrative | 36 (18.0) |
| Production, technical | 18 (9.0) |
| Other | 53 (26.5) |
| Self-employed | 13 (6.5) |
| Not working | 80 (40.0) |
| Monthly household income | |
| <$2000 | 66 (33.0) |
| $2000 to <$5000 | 58 (29.0) |
| $5000 to <$10,000 | 34 (17.0) |
| ≥$10,000 | 15 (7.5) |
| Housing type | |
| 1- or 2-room HDB | 9 (4.5) |
| 3-room HDB | 41 (20.5) |
| 4-room HDB | 69 (34.5) |
| 5-room HDB or executive flat | 71 (35.5) |
| Condominium or landed property | 10 (5.0) |
| Vision impairment (better eye) | |
| No | 148 (74.0) |
| Yes | 52 (26.0) |
| Severity of DR (better eye) | |
| No to mild NPDR | 84 (42.0) |
| Moderate NPDR | 52 (26.0) |
| Severe NPDR | 34 (17.0) |
| PDR | 12 (6.0) |
| Quiescent PDR | 18 (9.0) |
| DME present (better eye), yes | 14 (7.0) |
| NVS category | |
| High likelihood of limited HL (score 0–1) | 85 (43.8) |
| Possibility of limited HL (score 2–3) | 42 (21.7) |
| Almost always indicates adequate HL (score 4–6) | 67 (34.5) |
| Health Literacy Test for Singapore category | |
| Inadequate HL (<3 numeracy; <27 comprehension) | 54 (38.3) |
| Adequate HL (≥3 numeracy; ≥27 comprehension)b | 87 (61.7) |
| Continuous Variables | Mean (SD); Median (Range) |
| Age (y) | 59.0 (10.6); 60.0 (30.0–82.0) |
| Duration of diabetes (y) | 16.0 (9.8); 16.0 (1.0–40.0) |
| HbA1c (%) | 8.0 (1.6); 7.7 (4.4–12.8) |
| Presenting visual acuity in better eye (logMAR) | 0.24 (0.18); 0.20 (0.00–0.90) |
a
Percentages for some variables may not equal 100% due to missing data.
b
Only 141 answered both the numeracy and comprehension questions.
HDB, Housing Development Board; HL, health literacy.