BLINDNESS DUE TO DIABETES - POPULATION-BASED AGE-SPECIFIC AND SEX-SPECIFIC INCIDENCE RATES

Reducing the incidence of diabetic retinopathy and blindness was decla red one of the main objectives in St Vincent. To date, hardly any vali d data are available on the age- and sex-specific incidence of diabete s-related blindness. They are necessary, however, to evaluate interven tion activities. Therefore, we used a population-based registry of bli ndness to calculate incidence of blindness due to diabetes. In one Ger man district (Rhineland) we obtained complete lists of cases of blindn ess newly registered in 1990 and 1991 and coded as blind due to diabet es (n = 589). We estimated age-specific incidence rates in the entire as well as in the diabetic population. Incidence rates of blindness du e to diabetes (100 000(-1) year(-1)), standardized to the West-Germa n population, were 3.2 (CI 95 %: 2.9; 3.4) in the entire population an d 60.5 (CI 95 %: 45.7; 75.4) in the diabetic population. Incidence rat es in the diabetic population showed a peak between 20 and 40 years of age, probably due to complications of Type 1 diabetes. Incidence was higher in diabetic women than in diabetic men (p <0.05 at ages greater than or equal to 40 years). Repeating the study will detect a decreas e in the incidence of blindness due to diabetes by one-third with over 99 % power. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.