Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy, Diabetic Macular Edema Higher in Patients with Early Onset Diabetes

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema is more often found in patients with early onset diabetes then patients with late onset diabetes, according to a study published in the journal Ophthalmic Research.

In this study, 1932 patients with gradable fundus photography used to determine the presence and severity of DR and DME, were included. Patients with early onset diabetes were ≤40 years of age and patients with late onset diabetes were >40 years of age.

The prevalence of DR was 67% in patients with early onset diabetes and 41.9% in patients with late onset diabetes. The prevalence of DME was 39.3% in patients with early onset diabetes and 14.4% in patients with late onset diabetes.

In both groups of patients, insulin use was linked with DR and DME. In patients with early onset diabetes, a high level of income was negatively associated with DR and higher density lipoprotein was was associated with DME.

Reference

Wang Y, Lin Z, Zhai G, et al. Prevalence of and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema in patients with early and late onset diabetes mellitus. Ophthalmic Res. 2020; Apr 30. doi: 10.1159/000508335. Online ahead of print.