Low prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with long-term type 1 diabetes and current good glycemic control - one-center retrospective assessment

Purpose Despite progress in type 1 diabetes (T1DM) therapy, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is still a common complication. We analysed predictors and prevalence of DR in patients with T1DM lasting 10 years or more. All of the patients were considered to be currently in excellent glycemic control and treated using modern therapies. Methods Study included 384 (80.7% women) T1DM patients participating in the Program of Comprehensive Outpatient Specialist Care at the University Hospital in Krakow between the years 2014 and 2020. A retrospective analysis of medical records was conducted. Results The patients were on average 34 ± 9.2 years old, had a BMI 25.0 ± 3.9 and a T1DM duration of 20.5 ± 7.9 years. The mean level of HbA1c throughout the follow-up (mean duration 4.9 ± 1.4 years) was 6.9 ± 1%. The group included 238 (62.0%) patients treated with insulin pumps and 99 (25.8%) on multiple daily injections, 47 (12.2%) used both methods; almost all patients were on insulin analogues. DR was confirmed in 150 (39.1%) patients, from which 109 (28.4%) were diagnosed de novo. Severe DR was occurred in just 31 cases (8.1%). In the multivariate logistic regression, independent risk factors for the presence of DR were T1DM duration (OR 1.13; 95% CI, 1.09–1.19), HbA1c level (OR 1.41; 95% CI, 1.08–1.84), LDL level (OR 1.79; 95% CI, 1.16–2.87), and the combined presence of non-DR micro- and macrovascular chronic complications (OR 1.86; 95% CI, 1.16–3.03). Conclusions In this highly-selected group of T1DM patients, mostly female, the prevalence of both DR at any stage and severe DR was lower than earlier reported results from other cohorts. Independent risk factors for the DR cohort did not differ from previously reported studies.