Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Diabetic Retinopathy

Based on recent meta-analyses, 0.8 million people out of overall globally 32.4 million blind individuals and 3.7 million people out of 191 million moderately to severely visually impaired (MSVI) individuals were blind and visually impaired due to diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the year 2010. The percentage of DR-related blindness increased from 2.1% in 1990 to 2.6% in 2010, and the percentage of DR-related MSVI increased from 1.3 to 1.9%. DR was the third most common cause of irreversible blindness, after macular degeneration and glaucoma. The prevalence of DR-related blindness and vision impairment was higher in world regions with older populations. The prevalence of any DR among diabetic patients was estimated to be 34.6%, of diabetic macular oedema to be 6.8%, and of vision threating DR to be 10.2%. Risk factors for DR were elevated blood pressure, longer duration of diabetes mellitus, type 1 vs. 2 of diabetes mellitus, worse metabolic control (i.e., higher HbA1c level), and shorter axial length (hyperopia). With further development of medical infrastructure in rural regions, life expectancy of diabetic individuals will prolong increasing their risk to develop DR during lifetime. Together with increasing wealth, it will further increase the number of patients with DR.