Y. Yoshida et al., Risk factors for the development of diabetic retinopathy in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients, DIABET RE C, 51(3), 2001, pp. 195-203
This study investigated the risk factors for development uf diabetic retino
pathy (DR) in 787 type 2 diabetic patients with no retinopathy at the first
visit. The subjects were followed up fur at least 3 years (mean. 6.7 years
). Among the baseline factors, significant correlations were observed betwe
en the development of DR and HbA(1c) (P < 0.0001), the method of therapy (P
< 0.005), the duration of diabetes at the first visit (P < 0.005) and the
past maximal body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.01). No significant correlation w
as found with the blood pressure, age, gender, TC or BMI. Among the follow-
up variables, the mean HbA(1c) (P < 0.0001) and duration of diabetes (P < 0
.001) correlated significantly with DR development, whereas the blued press
ure and age did nut. We found that a 1% decrease in HbA(1c) led to a 35% re
duction in the risk of development of DR during the follow-up. The patients
whose HbA(1c) at the first visit was higher than the median value of 8.2%
showed a higher probability of development of DR during the next 3 years ev
en when the same blood glucose control was maintained during the follow-up.
In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the most important risk factor
influencing the development of DR was the blood glucose control. Moreover,
we found that the glycemic level;rt the first visit also influenced the dev
elopment of DR. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.