Affluence is not related to delay in diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes as judged by the development of diabetic retinopathy.

Abstract

To determine the relationship between affluence and the presence of diabetic retinopathy at time of diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. Records of patients held by Southampton Retinal Screening Programme were examined. Patients (n = 1844) newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and subsequently receiving photographic retinal screening within 24 months were selected. Townsend scores for social deprivation were calculated and the patients with and without retinopathy at first screening were then compared. No significant difference was found in the median Townsend score of those people with (-0.2, interquartile range (IQR) -3.7 to 3.8) and those without (-0.5, IQR -3.3 to 3.6) diabetic retinopathy at first screening after diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes (P = 0.6). The relative affluence of the area in which a person lives, as judged by postcode, does not appear to predict likelihood of diabetic retinopathy at diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.