Incidence of retinopathy and associated risk factors from time of diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes.

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To describe the prevalence at baseline and 4-year incidence of retinopathy and its relation to glycemic control from the time of diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes. Geographically defined population-based study. Twenty-eight-county area in Wisconsin. Incipient cohort of children, teenagers, and young adults (n = 354) up to 30 years of age with newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy as determined by gradings from 30 degrees color stereoscopic photographs of the Diabetic Retinopathy Study 7 standard fields. The prevalence of retinopathy at diagnosis was 1.3%. Four years after diagnosis of diabetes, retinopathy was first identified in 5.1% of our cohort and in 9.7% of those 15 years of age or older. After controlling for age, subjects with a mean glycosylated hemoglobin level of 12% or greater were 3.2 times as likely (95% confidence interval, 1.1-9.9) to have retinopathy present at follow-up as were subjects with a mean glycosylated hemoglobin level of less than 12%. Population-based data on the frequency and incidence of retinopathy from the time of diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus provided by this study suggest a possible reduction in risk of developing retinopathy in those in whom glycemic control is achieved from the time of diagnosis.