Diabetic Retinopathy in Native and Nonnative Canadians

Stuart A Ross,Anne Mckenna,Gordon H Fick,Sheila Mozejko

doi:10.1155/2007/76271

Stuart A Ross, Anne Mckenna + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/76271

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Abstract

High prevalence rates of type 2 diabetes are being observed in native Canadian communities. It is believed that native populations have a higher prevalence rate of vascular complications than nonnatives. The Southern Alberta Study of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) examined the prevalence and incidence of DR and associated metabolic abnormalities in native and nonnative subjects. Prevalence rates of DR in type 2 diabetic native and nonnative subjects were identical, with a prevalence rate of 40%. Native subjects with retinopathy, however, tended to have more advanced changes of retinopathy compared to the nonnative subjects. Key factors such as A1c, blood pressure, duration of diabetes, and lipid values were not significantly different between the two cohorts. These data indicate that ethnicity does play a role in the development and severity of DR but potential risk factors that may affect the development of retinopathy are not significantly different between native and nonnative groups.

Highlights

Diabetic retinopathy remains an important cause of visual loss in persons with diabetes
It is often assumed that native populations have different prevalence rates of specific vascular complications and of the risk factors that may lead to the development of vascular complications
The results of a Chi-Squared test for the equality of the retinopathy rates, (χ2 = 0.0005 with 1 degree of freedom, P = .98) indicate that ethnicity appears to play no role on the incidence of retinopathy for patients with Type 2 diabetes

Summary

Introduction

Diabetic retinopathy remains an important cause of visual loss in persons with diabetes. As the prevalence rates of diabetes increase in both the native and nonnative populations, there is increasing concern of the potential increased numbers of patients at risk for diabetic retinopathy. Some potential risk factors for retinopathy include: A1c, BP (systolic and diastolic), and duration of diabetes [1,2,3,4,5]. It is often assumed that native populations have different prevalence rates of specific vascular complications and of the risk factors that may lead to the development of vascular complications. This paper reviews the prevalence rates of diabetic retinopathy in native and nonnative communities and directly compares the prevalence rates of potential risk factors for the development of diabetic retinopathy in these communities. There were small but significant differences between native and nonnative subjects in measurements of diastolic blood pressure. There were no significant differences in systolic blood pressure measurements or duration of diabetes between the two groups

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Conclusion