Prevalence and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in a cross-sectional population-based study from rural southern China: Dongguan Eye Study

Abstract

Research questionThe current population-based study aimed to investigate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and risk factors among residents over 40 years old in the rural area of Dongguan, southern China.Study designThe Dongguan Eye Study was a population-based study from September 2011 to February 2012.SettingThe area was set in the rural area of Dongguan, southern China.ParticipantsAdult rural population aged 40 or older.InterventionParticipants underwent haematological, physical, ophthalmic examinations and completed a questionnaire regarding lifestyles and systemic medical conditions.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe frequency and risk factors of visual impairment and the major vision-threatening eye diseases.ResultsOf the 8952 Han Chinese, 1500 were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with an average age of 59.5±11.1 years, and 1310 participants with fundus photography results were analysed. Standardised prevalence rate of DR was 18.2% for all patients with diabetes, 32.8% for the patients with previously diagnosed diabetes and 12.6% for newly diagnosed patients with T2DM. The prevalence rate of male DR was significantly higher than that of female DR (23.0% vs 14.1%, p<0.001). No significant difference was found in age-specific prevalence of DR. In diabetic patients, the prevalence rates of vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular oedema and clinically significant macular oedema were 2.5%, 2.8% and 0.9%, respectively. Male gender, higher education level, longer duration of diabetes mellitus (DM), higher systolic blood pressure and glycosylated haemoglobin were independent risk factors for DR development in patients with diabetes.ConclusionA relatively lower prevalence of DR was found among the participants with T2DM in residents over 40 years in the rural area of southern China. Thus, an ophthalmic examination is recommended, especially for individuals with DM and DR risk factors. There is a need to increase awareness and education on DM and DR, especially in subjects with DR risk factors to reduce the incidence of DR and macular oedema.

Retrospective Analysis of the Impacts of Treatment Regimens on the Progression and Prognosis of Diabetic Retinopathy and Visual Acuity in Trakya University School of Medicine

“…Diabetic retinopathy more commonly occurs in elderly individuals with diabetes. In our study, it was revealed that the mean age of patients with type diabetes was 51.3 years and the mean age of patients with type 2 diabetes was 63.8 years, which are quite similar to other studies (9,10). Regarding gender, the number of female patients (58.4%) was slightly more than males in our study.…”

Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy and Risk Factors Among Diabetic Patients at University of Gondar Tertiary Eye Care and Training Center, North-West Ethiopia. 

“…Association of poor glycemic control with diabetic retinopathy was also shown by studies done in other parts of the world. 21,[28][29][30][31] This difference in the ndings between our study and other studies may have resulted from the use of HbA1c to assess level of glycemic control in the studies mentioned.…”

National trends in the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among Thai patients with type 2 diabetes and its associated factors from 2014 to 2018

“…In the response to stress especially in DLP, the inflammatory mediators are upregulated leading to abnormal leucocyte-endothelial interactions and eventually retinal microvascular damage [ 6 , 28 , 29 ]. However, a cross-sectional study in southern China reported no association was found between cholesterol levels and DR [ 30 ].…”