Abstract
Background and Objective: Nowadays, diabetes is one of the main causes of blindness in the world. Identification and differentiation of risk factors for diabetic retinopathy depending on the type of diabetes gives us the opportunity to fight and prevent this complication. Aim of the research: To assess differences in the risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Warmia and Mazury Region, Poland. Materials and Methods: Risk factors for diabetic retinopathy (DR) were assessed on the basis of an original questionnaire, which included: personal data, clinical history of diabetes and eye disease. Elements of clinical examination: blood pressure, BMI, waist circumference. Indicators of diabetes metabolic control: mean glycemia, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol and triglycerides, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), albumin–creatinine ratio in urine. Results: The study group included 315 (26%) patients with DM1 and 894 (74%) patients with DM2. Risk factors were estimated on the basis of logistic regression and verified with Student’s t-test. Statistically significant dependencies were found in both groups between the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy and diabetes duration, HbA1c, triglyceride concentrations, indicators of kidney function and cigarette smoking status. In the DM2 group, the development of DR was significantly influenced by the implemented models of diabetic treatment. Conclusions: In the whole study group, the risk of DR was associated with the duration of diabetes, HbA1c, triglyceride concentrations and smoking. In DM1 patients, the risk of DR was associated with diabetic kidney disease in the G1A1/A2 stage of chronic kidney disease, and in DM2 patients with the G2 stage of chronic kidney disease. An important risk factor for DR in DM2 patients was associated with late introduction of insulin therapy.
Highlights
Diabetes has been known about for thousands of years
Hypertension was defined according to the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and European Society of Cardiology (ESC) criteria, BMI was calculated by applying Quetelet’s equation, while the waist circumference measurement was interpreted according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria [16,17,18]
The present study demonstrated that too slow intensification of antidiabetic treatment in DM2 patients, that is, introducing insulin therapy too late, was an independent risk factor that accelerated the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR)
Summary
Diabetes has been known about for thousands of years. Lesions in the fundus of the eye were first found in the course of diabetes in 1855 by Viennese ophthalmologist Eduard von Jaeger, who termed them ‘retinitis diabetica’ [1,2]. The strongest prognostic factor for the development and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is its duration [6,7,8]. Identification and differentiation of risk factors for diabetic retinopathy depending on the type of diabetes gives us the opportunity to fight and prevent this complication. Aim of the research: To assess differences in the risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Warmia and Mazury Region, Poland. Materials and Methods: Risk factors for diabetic retinopathy (DR) were assessed on the basis of an original questionnaire, which included: personal data, clinical history of diabetes and eye disease. Significant dependencies were found in both groups between the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy and diabetes duration, HbA1c, triglyceride concentrations, indicators of kidney function and cigarette smoking status. In the DM2 group, the development of DR was significantly influenced by the implemented models of diabetic treatment
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