Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Peruvian patients with type 2 diabetes: results of a hospital-based retinal telescreening program Prevalencia de retinopatía diabética en pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 en el Perú: resultados de un programa hospitalario de detección sistemática mediante telemedicina

• Main Authors: Jaime E Villena, Christian A Yoshiyama, Javier E Sánchez, Nélida L Hilario, Lawrence M Merin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2011
• Subjects: Retinopatía diabética; diabetes mellitus; telemedicina; Perú; Diabetic retinopathy; telemedicine; Peru; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/d63a82e7cc4f4d6dad899e883b250d63

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes and to determine any association with clinical factors. METHODS: This hospital-based screening project was designed to prospectively detect the presence of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes by grading images acquired with a digital retinal camera. RESULTS: Of 1 311 patients screened, appropriate retinal images were obtained in 1 222 subjects (93.2%). DR was detected in 282 patients (23.1%) [95% confidence interval (CI): 20.71-25.44]; 249 patients (20.4%) (95% CI: 18.1-22.6) had nonproliferative DR and 33 (2.7%) (95% CI: 1.8-3.6) had proliferative DR. In 32 patients (11.3%), DR was unilateral. The frequency of DR was the same in both sexes. Prevalence of blindness was twice as frequent in patients with DR as in those without it (9.4% and 4.6%, respectively) (P = 0.001). The frequency of DR at diagnosis was 3.5% and it increased with the duration of diabetes. DR was more frequent in patients with arterial hypertension, macrovascular or microvascular complications, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) > 7.0% and in those treated with insulin or sulfonylureas. It was less prevalent in those with HbA1c < 7.0%, with greater body mass index, and who had been treated with metformin. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of DR in these patients with type 2 diabetes was 23.1%. Nonproliferative retinopathy accounted for 77.0% of cases. Although less prevalent than in a previous report, it doubled the frequency of blindness in the people affected. A national screening DR program should be considered in order to detect this prevalent condition early and treat it in a timely fashion OBJETIVO: Calcular la prevalencia de la retinopatía diabética en pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 y determinar su asociación con factores clínicos. MÉTODOS: Este proyecto de detección sistemática hospitalaria se diseñó para detectar de manera prospectiva la presencia de retinopatía diabética en pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 mediante la valoración de imágenes ...