Risk Factors Diabetic Retinopathy in Patient with Type 2 Diabetes

 

Patient selection: Type 2 diabetes

 

Vision-threatening retinopathy was defined as proliferative retinopathy and/or macular edema.

 

Risk factors for a patient with diabetes for 10 to 12 years:

(1) age of onset for diabetes <= 55 years of age

(2) hemoglobin A1c >= 7%

 

Risk factors for a patient with diabetes for 20 to 30 years:

(1) age of onset for diabetes < 45 years of age

(2) hemoglobin A1c >= 7%

(3) hypertension

(4) ethnicity

 

where:

• Ethnicity was not elaborated on in the paper. I would assume that Blacks or Hispanics would be the groups at greater risk.

• The interval between disease onset and disease diagnosis would impact the period with diabetes.

• There is an interval of 8 years between the 2 groups. For the implementation the first group was increased to 15 years and the second lowered to 16.

 

Control of diabetes (as indicated by the hemoglobin A1c) and hypertension can significantly impact the risk of diabetic retinopathy in these patients.