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Barbados Eye Study: Incident DR rates high in black population

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Blacks have a high incident rate of diabetic retinopathy as well a high rates of type 2 diabetes, data from the Barbados Eye Study show. Optimal glycemic and blood pressure control may help prevent visual loss from diabetes in this population, the study authors suggest.

Cristina Leske, MD, MPH, and others with State University of New York, Stony Brook, analyzed data from 410 people included in the Barbados Eye Study who had diabetes. Of those, 306 had not developed diabetic retinopathy (DR) at baseline.

After 4 years, DR developed in 92 of the 306 people unaffected at baseline. Including the number of people with diabetes at baseline, 85% of those at risk for DR had previously diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

Of the initial group, 353 were identified as free of clinically significant macular edema at baseline. After 4 years, 16 participants developed the disease. Seven of the 101 people with minimal or moderate DR at baseline progressed to proliferative DR. Other risk factors for DR were increased systolic blood pressure, use of oral hypoglycemics, use of insulin and elevated glycated hemoglobin.

The study is published in the May issue of Ophthalmology.