New Study: Diabetic Retinopathy on the Rise for Post-40 Crowd

Nearly 30 percent of U.S. adults with diabetes over the age of 40 are estimated to have diabetic retinopathy, with about 4 percent of this population having vision-threatening retinopathy, according to a study in a recent issue issue of JAMA.

Diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina caused by complications of diabetes mellitus) is the leading cause of new cases of legal blindness among adults 20 to 74 years of age in the United States, with diabetes-related blindness costing this country some $500 million annually, according to the article.

Dr. Xinzhi Zhang of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues conducted a study to determine the most recent prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in the U.S. population ages 40 years and older.

Photographs were taken of each eye to determine and classify diabetic retinopathy. The researchers found that from 2005-08 the estimated prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy was 28.5 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, among persons with diabetes in the 40-plus age bracket.

Approximately 31.6 percent of men and 25.7 percent of women with diabetes had diabetic retinopathy.

Further analysis indicated that independent risk factors include male sex (38.1 percent vs. 27.1 percent), higher hemoglobin A1c level, longer diabetes duration, use of insulin (47.4 percent vs. 26.7 percent) and higher systolic blood pressure.

Conclude the authors: "With the aging of the population and the increasing proportion of the population with diverse racial/ ethnic heritage, the number of cases of diabetic retinopathy and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy will likely increase."