
Differences in incidence of diabetic retinopathy between type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus: a nine-year follow-up study
It is estimated that more than 200 million people worldwide currently have diabetes and that number is predicted to rise by over 120% by 2025.1 It has become a chronic disease with several complications. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is classified as type 1 diabetes (T1DM) or type 2 diabetes (T2DM), gestational diabetes, monogenic diabetes and secondary diabetes.2 There is a current trend towards more children developing T1DM and more than half a million children are estimated to be living with the disease.
The most important ocular complication is diabetic retinopathy (DR), a common cause of blindness in Europe.3 Development of DR is similar in both DM types. DR screening uses a non-mydriatic fundus camera, a cost-effective way of screening DM populations.4 Screening frequency varies according to DM type.5 Our group rolled out a screening programme in 2000 that included general practitioners and endocrinologists,6 and we reported an increase in the incidence of DR in a previously published study.7
In this study, we determine the incidence of any-DR, sight-threatening retinopathy (STDR) and diabetic macular oedema (DMO) in patients with T1DM and its differences in patients with T2DM.
Materials and methods
Setting: The reference population in our area is 247 174. The total number of patients with DM registered with our healthcare area is 17 792 (7.1%).
Design: A prospective, population-based study, conducted from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2015. A total of 366 patients with T1DM and 15 030 with T2DM were screened.
Power of the study: Our epidemiologist estimates the detection of
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