Abstract
Purpose :
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the most severe complications of diabetes. Itwas reported as one of the top 5 common causes of blindness and vision impairment. With the increase of the incidence of diabetes, the incidence and blinding rate of DR are increasing year by year. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk factors associated with the progression of DR.
Methods :
Data of 416 patients diagnosed with DR and followed up for 3 years at an urban eye clinic, the Illinois Eye Institute, were reviewed and analyzed. The baseline age, gender, blood glucose (BG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), insurance types, and compliance were evaluated. Patients were divided into non-low-income group, low-income group, and no insurance group based on the types of health insurance. Progression of DR was defined as an increase in severity of DR≥1 step, or a newly presented diabetic macular edema, or a newly presented vitreous hemorrhage.Logistic regression analysis was used to analysis the risk factors for DR progression.
Results :
At baseline, 147 (35.3%) patients had mild NPDR, 84 (20.2%) patients had moderate NPDR, 37 (8.9%) patients had severe NPDR, and 147 patients (35.3%) had PDR. During the 3 years of study period, 123 out of 416 patients(29.6%) had DR progression. Logistic regression analysis showed that average SBP and health insurancewere independent risk factors of progression of DR.High SBP exposed DR patients with higher risk of DR progression (p=0.02). Low-income and uninsured patients were more likely to have DR progression (p=0.02).
Conclusions :
Our study found that both SBP and health insurance were independent risk factors. It’s necessary for individuals with diabetes to control BP to prevent DR progress. Our study suggests that government should raise awareness on diabetic patients with low income or without health insurance.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.