Subset of diabetes patients at risk of retinopathy within 5 years of diagnosis: Study

Los Angeles, CA: A new study by Dr. William S. Gange and the team reported that some patients with type 2 diabetes are likely to develop proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and other neovascular complications within the first 5 years following type 2 diabetes diagnosis. The study is published in the journal Diabetes Care. 

Type 2 diabetes poses several complications and risk factors. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy is a serious sight-threatening complication of diabetes with several other complications.

William S. Gange from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and colleagues aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors for developing Proliferative diabetic retinopathy, tractional retinal detachment (TRD), and neovascular glaucoma (NVG) at 5 years after the initial diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

For this purpose, the researchers identified insured patients aged ≥18 with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and 5 years of continuous enrollment from a nationwide commercial claims database containing data from 2007 to 2015. The incidences of Proliferative diabetic retinopathy, TRD, and NVG were computed at 5 years following the index diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Associations between these outcomes and demographic, socioeconomic, and medical factors were tested.

The results of the study were found to be: 

Gange and the team concluded that "A subset of patients with type 2 diabetes develop Proliferative diabetic retinopathy and other neovascular sequelae within the first 5 years following the diagnosis with type 2 diabetes. These patients may benefit from increased efforts for screening and early intervention."

For further information: https://doi.org/10.2337/dc21-0228